Coronavirus Roundup: The Biden Administration Is Renewing Its Calls for More COVID-19 Funds

The Biden administration will have enough COVID-19 vaccine doses for immunocompromised individuals and the most vulnerable populations to receive a fourth dose if that is authorized in the next few weeks, but if fourth shots are needed for the general population “we will not have the supply necessary to ensure shots are available, free, and easy to access for all Americans,” said Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 coordinator, during a briefing on Wednesday. The administration has already had to scale back other services and purchases due to a lack of funding.

“We've given Congress a full accounting of every dollar that's been spent on the COVID medical response and a full accounting of the entire American Rescue Plan,” said Zients. “We've also provided all the specifics of the planned additional funding—how it will be deployed against additional purchase of monoclonals and pills and vaccines, as we were just talking about.” In total, the team has sent Congress 385 pages of documents and tables. 

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, said on Thursday that Republicans are working on a counter-proposal to a new offer from the Democrats on COVID-19 funding, The Hill reported. Here are some of the other recent headlines you might have missed. 

The Food and Drug Administration’s advisory committee on vaccines will meet on April 6 to discuss future booster shots and if shots need to be updated for specific variants. “No vote is planned at this meeting and there will not be any discussion of any product-specific applications,” the agency said in the announcement earlier this week.

Moderna announced on Wednesday it started a submission to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization for its vaccine for children ages 6 to 11 years. The company also released new data showing its vaccines are effective for babies and toddlers and it will submit an application for such in the coming weeks. However, the vaccines were not as effective against the omicron variant, similar to the results seen in adults. 

The Labor Department inspector general office issued an updated plan on Monday for its COVID-19 oversight work. “Based on significant issues identified during the first two phases of our pandemic response oversight plan, continuing risk assessments and emerging issues, the [office] has expanded our phase three work,” said the report. “For audit activities, we have identified three main areas of focus: worker benefit programs, including [unemployment insurance] and workers’ compensation; worker safety and health, including occupational and miner safety and health, and workplace rights; and employment and training programs, including grants and the job corps program.” 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma and the Office of the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery have entered into a partnership to strengthen and enhance current efforts to investigate and prosecute pandemic-related fraud. “It is regrettable that the government relief programs provided by Congress to aid those in need, as a result of the pandemic, have been exploited by fraud,” said U.S. Attorney Robert Troester on Tuesday. “We have already been working closely with SIGPR to address these fraudulent schemes” and now a new memorandum of understanding “strengthens and enhances that on-going effort.”

The CEOs of 10 major U.S. passenger and cargo airlines are calling on the Biden administration to drop the flight mask mandate and pre-departure testing rules. “We appreciate your leadership throughout the COVID-19 crisis and now as the country recovers from the impacts of the pandemic…Our industry has leaned into science at every turn,” they wrote in a letter to President Biden on Wednesday. “However, much has changed since these measures were imposed and they no longer make sense in the current public health context.” 

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will hold an online public hearing on April 27 to discuss the development of a final rule to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 exposure after a temporary one was issued last summer, which expired in December. Written comments may also be submitted until April 22. “As OSHA works towards a permanent regulatory solution, employers must continue to comply with their obligations under the General Duty Clause, Personal Protective Equipment and Respiratory Protection Standards, as well as other applicable OSHA standards to protect their employees against the hazard of COVID-19 in the workplace,” said the agency in a press release on Tuesday. 

Help us understand the situation better. Are you a federal employee, contractor or military member with information, concerns, etc. about how your agency is handling the coronavirus? Email us at newstips@govexec.com.