The state of health emergency, declared when the Covid-19 epidemic took over the United States three years ago, will officially end on May 11, the White House announced on Monday.
US President Joe Biden announced to Congress on Monday that he would end the state of health emergency linked to Covid-19 in the United States, reports Associated Press. The virus, which has killed more than a million people in America, will therefore settle into normality from May 11.
The end of the state of emergency will refer the question of Covid-19 to the usual health agencies. “The Covid-19 will have the same action plans as the flu”, summary The world.
End of subsidies
Above all, the development of vaccines and treatments will no longer be under the direction of the federal government. And the consequences for Americans are likely to be major: millions of them will have to put their hands in their pockets.
“The cost of vaccines against Covid-19 is expected to skyrocket”, analyzes indeed AssociatedPress, when the government stops buying them. Pfizer plans to charge up to $130 per dose, which patients, or insurance companies, will have to pay.
A situation that does not only concern doses of vaccines, but also tests and treatments for the virus: Covid-19 will be considered like all other diseases.
Put in place by Donald Trump in March 2020, the state of health emergency had always been extended since. In fact, part of the federal funds to help Americans during the pandemic have already dried up due to decisions by Congress.
Notice to avoid “chaos”
Republican lawmakers who control the House of Representatives are preparing bills that would seek to end the statutes sooner: March 1 for the national emergency and April 11 for the public health emergency.
A hasty end to the state of emergency would have “very significant consequences for our nation’s health care system and government operations,” including “chaos and uncertainty in the health care system,” it said. warned the White House in a press release.
“Hospitals and nursing homes, which have grown accustomed to the flexibilities allowed by these states of emergency, will descend into chaos without the time needed to retrain their workers and establish a new billing system,” the statement said.
