The White House unveiled its new coronaviruses response strategy on Wednesday, aimed at turning the corner on the worst public health crisis in a century while also preparing for the next threat.
The plan is meant to help the United States transition to a new normal, and it has four main goals: protecting against and treating Covid-19, preparing for new variant, avoiding shutdowns, and fighting the virus abroad.
Much of the plan requires funding from Congress. The administration told congressional officials that it could need as much as $30 billion. The United States needs to spend at least $100 billion over the next year and billions more after that, according to an interview with an adviser to the White House.
Dr. Emanuel, who led a team of experts in developing a far-reaching coronaviruses response plan that it shared with the White House, said that Congress has to think of this as an investment in the country.
The strategy comes on the heels of the president's State of the Union address on Tuesday night and as new U.S. cases decline. President Biden used the speech to highlight a new initiative that would allow Americans to get tested at a pharmacy and receive antiviral pills if they are positive for HIV.
The plan to accelerate research so that vaccines can be developed and deployed within 100 days of the first variant is not new. They are a plan for the next phase of the response.
President Biden will not accept just living with Covid, any more than he accepts living with cancer, Alzheimer's or AIDS.
The health secretary, who has been criticized for keeping too low of a profile, made a rare appearance on Wednesday with the health officials who hold the weekly White House briefings.
Long Covid, the long-term symptoms some people experience after infections, is one of the elements of the plan. He promised to open new centers of excellence around the country to provide high-quality care to long-covid patients, which will require congressional buy-in.
The White House apparently listened to a bipartisan group of former governors who had been pressing Mr. Biden to do more for tens of thousands of children who have lost parents or caregivers to Covid-19. The plan says the president will direct federal agencies to review their programs and come up with a more coordinated response for such children.
This is part of our commitment to be there for Americans who have long-term physical and mental health needs caused by Covid.
The idea behind the strategy is to get the nation out of crisis mode and to a place. It includes a pledge for the administration to work with Congress to give schools and businesses guidance, tests and supplies to stay open.
The plan was praised in interviews by experts. The plan should serve as a firm foundation to build upon, according to Dr. Rick Bright, the chief executive of the Rockefeller Foundation's Pandemic Prevention Institute.
Jay A. Winsten, the director of the Harvard Initiative on Media Strategies for Public Health, said the 100 day timeline for vaccine development might not be fast enough for a highly transmissible variant like Omicron. The United States reached the peak of the Omicron wave just 67 days after the first sample was collected in South Africa.
The most pressing challenge in Mr. Biden's presidency was his 200 page plan to combat the Pandemic. A lot has changed since then.
More than 200 million Americans have been given vaccinations. Two new waves fueled by the Delta variant and the Omicron variant have led to over one million deaths. Paxlovid, a Pfizer drug, will be part of the test and treat initiative.
Mr. Biden said in his speech on Tuesday that Paxlovid will be available in more than one million pills this month and more than one million next month.
According to the New York Times database, there is an average of 60,000 new cases a day. At the peak of the winter surge fueled by Omicron, the daily average was more than one million. It's still higher than it was last June, before Delta drove a summer surge.
Even as the White House asserts that things are getting better and new federal guidelines suggest 70% of Americans can stop wearing masks for now, large groups of people remain at risk. Children under the age of 5 are not eligible for vaccines. New York State health officials released data on Monday showing that Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine is less effective in preventing infections in young people than it is in older people.
Seven million Americans have weak immune systems, illnesses or other disabilities that make them more vulnerable to severe Covid. The White House said last week that it was taking steps to make masks and tests more accessible.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relaxed its mask guidance last week, but the administration put too much of it in.
One mask mandate that will not be dropped, at least not for the next few weeks, is the one Mr. Biden imposed on airplanes, trains and other forms of travel. The C.DC is reviewing it, but the White House says it will remain in effect until at least March 18.
In his State of the Union address, Mr. Biden called on Congress to provide new funding for the administration to stockpile more tests, masks and pills. He said that Americans who ordered free at- home tests from a government website would be able to get more next week.
I can't promise a new variant won't come, but I can promise you we'll be ready if it does.
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