The conclusion of the COVID-19 crisis in the United States is imminent. The expiration of the US public health emergency declaration on May 11 and the cessation of other emergency authorizations have effectively brought an end to comprehensive measures supporting the response to COVID-19. These developments hold significant symbolic value as well, representing a milestone in one of the most devastating health catastrophes in the history of the USA. What comes next in the wake of these changes?

“The Department of Health and Human Services has provided a roadmap outlining the transition away from the public health emergency. Although COVID-19 vaccines will probably be covered at least until Sept 30, 2024, COVID-19 treatments and testing might require out-of-pocket expenses based on health insurance. Medicaid determination is being pushed back to individual states; several states have already begun rollbacks, leading to an estimated 15 million newly underinsured or uninsured people. The mandatory sharing of laboratory COVID-19 test results and local and state vaccine data with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will end. The government is also hoping to advance new health technologies through Project Next Gen, with US$5 billion to speed the development of next-generation COVID-19 vaccines and therapies.

The USA have been through a traumatic event that should prompt deep reflection and open the way to transformative change. Yet the country seems at risk of falling prey to the cycle of panic and neglect that characterises the response to many health emergencies. The country may move on for now, but unless it faces up to the root causes of the harm COVID-19 did in the USA—health inequities, lack of access to health care, non-communicable diseases, a poisonous political discourse, and mistrust in public health institutions—it will likely find history repeating itself when the next pandemic comes.”1

Read the full article here.

References

  1. Lancet. (2023). Moving past the COVID-19 emergency in the USA. The Lancet, 401(10386), 1399. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(23)00848-6

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