WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Covid-19 pandemic in the United States will remain a public health emergency until at least next April, Joe Biden administration officials said Friday, allowing millions of Americans to continue to receive free tests, vaccines and cures .
Covid has been a public health emergency in the United States since January 2020, when the pandemic first appeared. This status was then renewed quarterly, but the federal government hinted in August that it could expire in January 2023.
In this case, however, the states should have been notified sixty days in advance, namely this Friday, by the Department of Health, which has not happened.
The authorities finally opted for an extension of this status, citing in particular the possibility of a new epidemic outbreak during the winter and the need for a longer period to ensure the transition to access to privately managed vaccines.
(Report Ahmed Aboulenein and Jeff Mason, French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse)
