White House officials are again pleading with Congress for more emergency aid to buy coronavirus vaccines and therapeutics as a highly infectious Omicron subvariant spreads, though the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention sought Wednesday to assuage concerns about it.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the C.D.C. director, said BA.2 accounts for about 35 percent of new U.S. coronavirus cases, and appears to be driving small increases in cases in both the city and state of New York, as well as some hospitalizations in New England, where more than half of all infections are attributable to BA.2.
But, she added, there’s no evidence that the BA.2 variant results in more severe disease or is more likely to be able to evade our immune protection.
Dr. Walensky’s comments came at the first White House briefing on Covid-19 since March 2, the day that the administration unveiled President Biden’s plan to transition away from pandemic crisis mode and toward what many experts are calling a “new normal.” But that plan depends on funding from Congress, which so far is not forthcoming.
The administration has asked lawmakers for $22.5 billion in emergency Covid aid, mostly to purchase new vaccines and treatments.
Officials have said that they have enough vaccine on hand to offer additional booster doses to immunocompromised people and those 65 and older this spring if regulators recommend it. But they do not have enough to prepare for a possible fall surge that might warrant fresh booster shots for all adults. And the administration has already been cutting back its shipments of monoclonal antibody drugs to states.
The administration wants the money without strings attached. But Republican lawmakers are demanding that the spending be offset by taking funds from other programs. They also want an accounting of how previous relief packages have been spent.
On Wednesday, there were hints of progress. Senator Mitt Romney, Republican of Utah, who earlier this month led a group of about three dozen senators in sending a letter asking the White House for such an accounting, told reporters on Wednesday that he expected to receive a revised proposal soon.
“The White House did provide a listing of money that’s not been spent, and the Democrat leadership is sending over today a proposal and I’ll take a look at that and see where we stand,” Mr. Romney said, according to The Hill.
Mr. Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, Jeffrey D. Zients, said during Wednesday’s briefing that “Congress has all the information it needs” to act. He came prepared with visuals to make the point: a 385-page stack of charts and documents that he said the White House had shared with lawmakers.
“With every day that passes, we risk not having the tools we need to fight Covid-19,” he said, adding, “The virus is not waiting for Congress to act. With every minute this funding request is stalled, we’re losing our ability to protect people.”
