Residents arrive at a mass COVID-19 vaccination center set up in a parking lot outside of the United Center in Chicago in 2021. Scott Olson/Getty Images
GovExec Daily: How Congress is Trying – and Not Trying – to Prepare for the Next Pandemic
As funding is absent in the omnibus, Eric Katz joins the podcast to discuss new plans for federal preparedness.
The COVID-19 crisis enters its third year at a crossroads in the U.S. As vaccination rates stall, calls for boosters and shots for children under five have become louder. Government will have to adjust and better prepare for potential variants and waves of the disease. A bipartisan bill to better equip the government for future pandemics is now gaining momentum in Congress and the plan would reform some federal hiring practices and boost interagency collaboration so all levels of government won’t make the same mistakes they did in early 2020 when the next pandemic hits.
GovExec reporter Eric Katz is covering COVID-19. He joined the show to discuss COVID-19 legislation and the government response to pandemics.
