(CNN) — The United States Senate reached a bipartisan agreement to provide an additional $10 billion in COVID-19 assistance, less than half of what that the White House had originally requested.
The budget would allow the Biden administration to purchase more vaccines and therapeutics, as well as maintain testing and research capacity on Covid-19. But it does not include $5 billion in funding for global aid for covid-19, nor will it replenish the program that pays the testing, treatment and vaccination of the uninsured.
The settlement would be paid for with unspent funds from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid of the Democrats, which was signed into law in March 2021.
However, the money previously provided would not be used for the state and local government assistance. That proposed compensation led several House Democrats to torpedo a $15.6 billion Covid-19 relief package, which was initially part of the year-round spending bill.
“We urge Congress to act quickly on this $10 billion package because it can start funding the most immediate needs as we currently risk not having some critical tools like treatments and tests starting in May and June,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki wrote in a statement Monday.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and Sen. Mitt Romney, from Utah, who was negotiating for the Republicans, released the text and summaries of the agreement.
This is what the agreement includes.
Covid support will help fund vaccines, treatments and tests
The deal would channel $9.25 billion to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, according to summaries.
At least $5 billion would be spent on buying therapies, such as oral antivirals. Currently, there is a limited supply of treatments, including monoclonal antibodies, that are provided free to Americans, regardless of insurance coverage.
The federal government has already reduced weekly allocations for many COVID-19 therapies due to both a lack of demand and declining funds available. The distribution of two monoclonal antibody treatments, sotrovimab and bebtelovimab, was reduced “because Congress did not provide additional funding for the response to covid-19,” said a spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, in a statement to CNN, the last month.
In a fact sheet published last month, the White House said the federal government has no more funds to buy additional monoclonals, including an order planned for March 25. It also said it does not have the ability to purchase additional oral antiviral pills beyond the 20 million already insured.
Additionally, additional funds from the deal would be used to purchase vaccines, including booster shots, vaccines for children, and potentially new types of vaccines. The Biden administration has warned that second COVID-19 booster shots, or a new type of vaccine, if needed, will not be free or readily available to all Americans, as long as they are authorized, without additional funding from the Congress.
And the funds would be used to maintain testing capacity so that in-house test manufacturing and lab capacity for PCR testing doesn’t decrease over the summer to the point where it can’t be increased again in the event of a future wave of covid-19.
Among the ways to ensure tests are available in the future is for the federal government to purchase testing supplies from manufacturers or provide funds to maintain state and local testing infrastructure.
future variants
Some $750 million would go to the Public Health and Human Services Emergency Fund for research, clinical trials and vaccine development for emerging variants. It could also be used to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity as needed.
Without additional funding, the government will have to scale back some COVID-19 surveillance investments that help it detect the next variant, the White House said.
This is how it will be paid
The $10 billion legislation would be fully offset by Covid-19 relief funds that were previously authorized by Congress but have not yet been spent, according to a summary provided by Romney’s office.
Nearly $2 billion was left over from the closed venue operator grant program, which gave money to live music venues, theaters and museums that were forced to close their doors for a period of time due to the COVID-19 pandemic. . The program stopped receiving applications in August. awarded more than $14 billion in grants.
The new bill would also repurpose about $900 left for the advance program COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan Grant, which allowed some small businesses to receive up to $15,000 that did not need to be repaid. The program would be left with enough money to accommodate outstanding loan modifications and the recently announced six-month loan repayment deferment, according to a project summary. law provided by Senate Democrats.
The new bill would use $1.6 billion of unspent funds that were previously given to the US Department of Agriculture by the Democrats’ novel coronavirus relief package, known as the American Bailout Act, and the Novel Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, which was signed into law by then-President Donald Trump in 2020, according to a summary by Senate Democrats.
More than US$2.3 billion would come from the Aviation Manufacturing Jobs Protection Program, which provided funds to companies to cover up to half of their payroll costs for certain categories of employees for up to six months. In exchange, those companies were required to make various commitments, including not to involuntarily suspend or terminate employees within that group during the same six-month period.
The new bill would also use the remaining money not spent on the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund, for a total of US$500 million. That program provided funds to colleges so they could provide emergency financial aid grants to students whose lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The relief package would rescind more than $1.8 billion of the $10 billion in Covid-19 relief funds provided to the State Small Business Credit Initiative Program. The program aims to help states, the District of Columbia, territories, and tribal governments “expand access to capital for small businesses emerging from the pandemic, build ecosystems of opportunity and entrepreneurship, and create high-quality jobs.” quality”. The bill would not rescind money specifically allocated for small and disadvantaged businesses and very small businesses, according to a summary provided by Senate Democrats.
The new bill would also use $887 million from the Tribal Consistency and Local Assistance Fund, which, due to a drafting error in previous legislation, has been unable to use any of the funds without congressional action, according to a summary. provided by Senate Democrats.
— CNN’s Katherine Dillinger contributed to this report.
–
