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COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, May 13, 2021

COVID-19 Federal Responses: Thursday, May 13, 2021

White House and Federal Agencies

  • The government isdistributing$7.4 billion in funding to address the pandemic and strengthen local public health authorities.
  • Accordingto Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), there is still $24 billion in unallocated funds in the Provider Relief Fund.

Economy, Vaccines, Testing and Treatment

  • The federal government ispartneringwith Uber and Lyft to provide free rides to COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
  • The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimouslyagreedwith the FDA’s decision to approve Pfizer’s vaccine for adolescents ages 12-15.
  • The CDCsaysit is safe to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as other vaccines.
  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) isplanningto purchase enough vaccines to provide booster doses for free.
  • Novavaxpushed backits timeline for submitting its COVID-19 vaccine to the FDA for approval until July at the earliest.
  • BioNTechdoes not believewaiving intellectual property (IP) protections are necessary because the manufacturers can meet the vaccine demand.
    • President Biden voiced support for waiving some IP protections to increase vaccine production. However, the waivers would not take effect until the World Trade Organization (WTO) reaches an agreement with those companies. The WTO said it will likely take until theend of the yearto reach such an agreement.
  • The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)publisheda study of which states are reaching the point where supply of COVID-19 vaccine is greater than demand.
  • The CDC hasidentifieda total of 28 blood clot cases related to the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine to date. Over 8.7 million people have received the J&J vaccine.
  • The World Health Organization (WHO)considersa new COVID-19 variant that originated in India a “global concern.”
  • The American Federation of Teacherssupportsfully reopening schools in the fall.

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