Disease Prevention

The White House is seeking to preserve funding for key components of the federal coronavirus response in debt limit negotiations with House Republicans, according to senior Biden administration officials familiar with the talks.

Administration officials are trying to protect roughly $5 billion in funding for a program to develop the next generation of coronavirus vaccines and treatments. They are also looking to preserve more than $1 billion in funding for an initiative to offer free coronavirus shots to uninsured Americans, according to the officials.

Who’s in charge of the White House Covid response after the emergency ends? The White House is in the middle of setting up a new pandemic response office, but it won’t be ready in time for a clean transfer at the end of the public health emergency on May 11. Rachel Cohrs STAT

...White House Covid-19 Response Coordinator Ashish Jha told reporters Tuesday (that) ...White House officials are in the middle of setting up an Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy that Congress mandated them to create in December, but it won’t be ready in time for a clean transfer at the end of the public health emergency on May 11.

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