Trump administration pulls back billions in Covid-era funding for state, local health departments

State and local public health departments are bracing themselves as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulls back about $11.4 billion in grants that were allocated to state and community health departments during the Covid-19 pandemic response.

State and local public health departments are bracing themselves as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pulls back about $11.4 billion in grants that were allocated to state and community health departments during the Covid-19 pandemic response. “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. 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 US Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement Wednesday. These funds were largely used for Covid-19 testing, Covid-19 vaccination and Covid-19 global projects, according to HHS, including for community health workers focused on populations most at risk from Covid-19. Since the start of the pandemic five years ago, the United States has had more than 100 million Covid-19 cases and about 1.2 million deaths, according to data from KFF. People who are older, in some racial and ethnic minority groups or who have certain medical conditions have been more likely to experience severe outcomes from the virus. The CDC expects to start recovering this money in about 30 days, according to HHS. Notices about this termination in funding were sent out earlier this week to local health departments and organizations, said Lori Tremmel Freeman, chief executive officer of the National Association of County and City Health Officials. NACCHO could see about $10 million in funding rescinded, she said.