Biden administration warns they will run out of money for boosters and COVID treatments and will cancel antibody orders after Congress pulled $22.5 billion in funding from spending bill
- The White House said the government will run out of funds for monoclonal antibody treatments by the end of May unless Congress provides additional funding.
- It will not be able to offer a fourth booster vaccine and variant-specific vaccines to all Americans.
- “We will likely run out of these drugs for our most vulnerable … Americans by the end of the year, if not sooner,” the official said.
- The White House has told governors it will cut the amount of monoclonal antibody drugs shipped to states by 30 percent starting next week.
Biden administration officials are warning that they will soon have to cancel supplies of vaccines, drugs to treat and test Covid unless Congress approves the additional $22.5 billion in funding they have requested.
The White House said the federal government will run out of funds for monoclonal antibody treatments as early as late May and will not be able to offer a fourth booster vaccine and variant-specific vaccines to all Americans unless Congress provides additional funding. Currently, funds are only sufficient to offer a fourth booster vaccine to immunocompromised Americans.
The White House told governors Tuesday morning that it would cut the amount of monoclonal antibody drugs shipped to states by 30 percent from next week, the official said.
“We will likely run out of these drugs for our most vulnerable … Americans by the end of the year, if not sooner,” the official said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki also warned on Tuesday that the consequences would be “dire” if the funding was not secured.
“With the rise in cases abroad, scientific and medical experts have concluded that in the next couple of months, the number of cases of COVID-19 may also increase in the United States,” she told reporters. “It will be too late to wait for funding to be provided until we are in the worst position with the virus. We need funding now, so we’re ready for anything.”
The White House said the program, which reimburses medical workers who provide Covid testing, treatment and vaccines, should be scaled back starting in March and closed completely in April without additional funding.
President Biden signed a $1.5 trillion budget bill Tuesday to fund the government through the end of fiscal year 2022, but planned Covid relief was not included in the bill.
The White House asked for $22.5 billion, but the figure was initially cut to $15.6 billion before it was cut entirely after Democrats rebelled against cuts in government aid that was to be used to pay for new funding. Meanwhile, Republicans argued that the aid was unnecessary and argued that there were still unspent funds from previous Covid aid bills.
The White House said the federal government will run out of funds for monoclonal antibody treatments as early as late May and will not be able to offer a fourth booster vaccine and variant-specific vaccines to all Americans unless Congress provides additional funding.
House Democrats have introduced a separate bill specifically for Covid relief funds, but it is unlikely to pass the Senate.
Senator Richard Shelby, D-Alabama, the top Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said he was “open-minded about further aid, but first called for an account of how previous funds were used.”
I’m not yet convinced of the need, but I don’t know for sure. So I’m open-minded about that,” Shelby said. “But I’d like to see – and I’ve said this before – we need a real money statement.”
He said if the money is “not hidden” and the need is demonstrated, Republicans may join.
The average daily Covid-19 case rate was down 47 percent from two weeks earlier to 33,854, and the average daily death rate was down 32 percent to 1,260.
The bill, which controls public funding until September 30, was passed five months late, just before the deadline that would have resulted in the government shutting down. The legislators, who have been arguing over numerous issues for months, have passed a series of temporary bills to temporarily keep the government running.
With Biden’s signature, the bill would allocate $13.6 billion to Ukraine for both humanitarian aid and defense. It also increases US defense spending by nearly $42 billion from last year to $782 billion.
While the White House is sounding the alarm about Covid funds, Biden has stressed he wants to get away from the pandemic.
“We can end school and business closures,” Biden said in his March 1 address to Congress. “We have the necessary tools.”
“It’s time for Americans to get back to work and fill our wonderful cities again,” he continued. “People working from home can feel safe going back to the office.”
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