The CDC is pulling back the $11.4 billion in funds from state and community health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients, the agency announced on Tuesday.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” Health and Human Services Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement to NBC News. “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.“
The move comes after the HHS closed an office dedicated to studying “long COVID,” indicating the new administration may be looking to scrap most COVID-19 plans.
“We are writing to let you know that the Office of Long COVID Research and Practice will be closing as part of the administration’s reorganization coming this week,” a memo announcing the closure obtained by Politico said. “We are proud of what we have accomplished together advancing understanding, resources, and support for people living with Long COVID.”
The funding move tracks with government cuts across the federal government. New Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has canceled millions of dollars of grants for research into vaccines and disease preventions.
“Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary as their limited purpose has run out,” notices of termination sent to grantees on Monday reportedly said.
The COVID-19 crisis came and went, but people are still infected with the virus across the country. Over a million Americans have died from the virus since 2020.
The COVID-19 funding was mainly utilized to track the virus, to vaccinate people, community health workers and initiatives to address COVID-19 health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities, as well as global COVID-19 projects, according to talking points CDC leadership emailed to agency departments Tuesday.
At least one state public health official is worried that the sudden loss in funding will hurt their state’s grasp of the virus.
“We are concerned that this sudden loss of federal funding threatens Colorado’s ability to track COVID-19 trends and other emerging diseases, modernize disease data systems, respond to outbreaks, and provide critical immunization access, outreach, and education—leaving communities more vulnerable to future public health crises,” Kristina Iodice, a communications director for Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment, told NBC News.
Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County & City Health Officials, said she believed much of the funding was due to expire soon anyways, and the sudden cancellation of it is “cruel and unusual behavior.”
“It’s ending in the next six months,” she said. “There’s no reason — why rescind it now?”
The COVID-19 funds were also being used to track other diseases, such as the recent measles outbreak.
FIRST MEASLES CASE CONFIRMED IN DC WITH EXPOSURES IN UNION STATION AND ADAMS MORGAN
Measles recently spread to Washington D.C., with potential exposures in the Union Station and Adams Morgan areas.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Health and Human Services Department about the cuts but did not receive a response.
