CDC moves up expiration date for uninsured COVID vaccine program
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is ending a federal program to provide COVID-19 vaccines for free earlier than planned as funds run out.
The federal government’s Bridge Access Program unveiled last year in anticipation of the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration ending along with free coronavirus vaccines and treatments.
It worked by partnering with pharmacies — CVS, Walgreens and eTrueNorth — to provide vaccines to the uninsured. The program was set to last until the end of this year, but the CDC said this week its expiration has been expedited to August.
The program has provided more than 1.4 million free COVID-19 vaccines since it launched in September 2023 at a cost of more than $1 billion. There are an estimated 25-30 million uninsured adults in the U.S.
“Due to Congressional rescissions of COVID-19 funds in the FY 2024 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, difficult decisions had to be made about the future of CDC activities supported by those funds,” a CDC spokesperson told The Hill.
The FY 2024 government funding bill rescinded unobligated COVID-19 funding. But according to CDC, the agency was planning to use its share of that money to support the upcoming Fall 2024 respiratory virus season, “including purchase of updated vaccines and the underlying infrastructure to distribute, administer, and promote uptake.”
“After August, there may be a small amount of free vaccine available through health department immunization programs, but supply would be very limited,” the spokesman said.
The Food and Drug Administration is meeting next month to discuss choosing the next strains to target with this year’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. While the CDC is advocating for a Vaccines for Adults proposal included in the White House’s budget request, the appropriations process won’t be complete in time for the fall vaccine rollout.
Welcome to The Hill’s Health Care newsletter, we’re Nathaniel Weixel and Joseph Choi — every week we follow the latest moves on how Washington impacts your health.
Americans are split on whether women should be required to have an in-person visit with a doctor before receiving abortion pills ahead of the Supreme Court ruling that will determine access to mifepristone, one of the two drugs used in medication abortion. Around 50 percent of respondents in the new Reuters/Ipsos poll said they were for a requirement to have women see a doctor in person first, before getting abortion pills. …
A judge set a fall trial Friday for a pharmacist charged with second-degree murder in the deaths of 11 Michigan residents who died in a 2012 meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated steroids from a Massachusetts lab.
A scenic fishing village in southwestern England was under instructions to boil its tap water for a third day on Friday after a parasite sickened more than 45 people in the latest example of Britain’s troubled water system.
New predictions for the summer season, released by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center this week, show weather is likely to heat up in almost every corner … Read more
A Thursday night hearing’s descent into chaos earned rebuke from both sides of the aisle after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) attacked another … Read more
Бурятский Театр кукол Ульгэр в Улан-Улан-Удэ показал в Этнографическом музее народов Забайкалья перед детьми и родителями в семейный праздник сказку Колобок - Новости и Культура, Дети и Россия
Сотрудники военных следственных органов Следственного комитета России по всей стране оказывают помощь подшефным детским учреждениям
Роман Старовойт выразил готовность оказывать дальнейшую поддержку в строительстве Ленского моста в Якутии
На Орловщине 8-летний мальчик опрокинулся на электросамокате
«Янника Синнера очень рано сравнивать с Роджером Федерером» // Тренер мужской сборной России по теннису Игорь Куницын — о главных событиях Roland Garros
