COVID 19 health emergency extended

The Covid-19 public health emergency has been extended by the Biden administration until April due to a highly transmissible omicron subvariant which has stoked concern that the U.S. may face another wave of hospitalizations from the disease this winter.
A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department said, “The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency remains in effect, and as HHS committed to earlier, we will provide a 60-day notice to states before any possible termination or expiration.”
Since the Trump administration first issued the declaration in January 2020, the U.S. has renewed the Covid public health emergency every 90 days.
The emergency declaration has had a vast impact on the U.S. health-care system over the past three years. It has protected public health insurance coverage for millions, provided hospitals with greater flexibility to respond to patient surges, and expanded telehealth.
Dr. Ashish Jha, who leads the White House Covid task force, has sought to reassure the public multiple times that the U.S. is in a much better position now due to the widespread availability of Covid vaccines and treatments that prevent severe disease and death from the virus.
In August, HHS told local and state health officials to start preparing for an end to the emergency in the near future. HHS has committed to giving state governments and health care providers 60 days notice before lifting the declaration so they can be prepared.
“The pandemic is over,” said President Joe Biden in September, when infections, hospitalizations and deaths were all declining. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters during a call in October that what the virus does this winter would determine whether or not the emergency needs to continue.
When U.S. officials end the public health emergency, hospitals will no longer have the flexibility to deploy staff, add beds, and care for patients during a surge in admissions. Though it’s not yet clear the extent of that impact, lifting the emergency could also affect the vastly expanded role pharmacies have played in administering vaccines during the pandemic.
As many as millions of Americans are expected to lose health insurance coverage under Medicaid in the coming months. States are not allowed to kick people off the program during the public health emergency, as set by Congress. More than 83 million people have enrolled in Medicaid, a surge of 30%.
Congress, last month, severed Medicaid protections from the public health emergency and said that, come April, states could start withdrawing people from Medicaid if they no longer meet eligibility requirements.
The Omicron XBB.1.5 is rapidly spreading.
Scientists believe that the omicron XBB.1.5 subvariant is rapidly becoming dominant in the U.S. because it has a growth advantage; it is better at binding to human cells and is also adept at evading immunity. Though there is no data, so far, indicating that it makes people sicker, the World Health Organization has described it as the most transmissible subvariant yet.
Since omicron’s arrival in the U.S. in late 2021 caused massive waves of infection in the U.S. and around the world, Covid has splintered into an alphabet soup of subvariants that are evolving to become increasingly adept at evading immunity from vaccination and infection.
A study published in December by scientists at Columbia University found that the BQ and XBB families of omicron subvariants pose the biggest threat to the Covid vaccines and could cause a surge of breakthrough infections. All of the authorized antibody treatments used to protect people with weak immune systems are also resistant to these subvariants.
Last week, in a series of Twitter posts, Jha said he is concerned about the rapid rise of XBB.1.5 but does not believe the subvariant represents a huge setback. If people haven’t received an omicron booster already, he encouraged them to get one. For the vulnerable, he encouraged them to obtain an antiviral treatment if they have a breakthrough infection.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that only 38% of seniors aged 65 and over have received an omicron booster so far. As XBB.1.5 spreads, there is concern that it could cause a spike in hospitalizations and deaths among older Americans.
“Most people who are hospitalized and dying from Covid right now are ages 70 and older who are either not up to date on their vaccines or are not getting treated when they have a breakthrough infection,” said Jha.