Vaccines Could See Big Buyers as U.S. Outbreak Gets Tough
The current situation in the United States against the epidemic is quite serious under the overlap of the COVID-19 and monkeypox epidemics. The monkeypox epidemic in the United States is spreading rapidly. According to the latest data from the CDC, the United States has become the country with the most known cases of monkeypox in the world. As of 29 local times, the United States reported a total of 5189 confirmed cases of monkeypox, of which, New York State has the most confirmed cases, amounting to 1345 cases, more than a quarter of the total number of confirmed cases in the United States. In response to the monkeypox epidemic, New York State and San Francisco have declared the monkeypox epidemic a “public health emergency”. In addition, the CDC plans to classify the rapidly spreading monkeypox as a “nationally notifiable disease”. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical advisor to the White House, warned that monkeypox poses a “serious risk” to groups including pregnant women and children. As the monkeypox epidemic spreads across Europe and the United States, some countries have begun to purchase monkeypox vaccines in large quantities. The United States is the largest purchaser, having ordered 13 million doses of monkeypox vaccine from Bavarian Nordic, of which 1.4 million have been delivered. Also, the COVID-19 epidemic in the U.S. has rebounded again. According to the U.S. Market Watch website, the average daily number of confirmed cases of neo-crown in the U.S. has been nearly 130,000 over the past week due to the rampant BA.5 variant strain, the largest increase in the average daily number of confirmed cases since February, and the actual number of confirmed cases in the U.S. may be higher as data has not been fully collected. Among them, cases caused by the Omicron variant BA.5 already account for 81.9% of all confirmed cases in the United States, compared to 0.4% in early May. The BA.5 variant is the most transmissible strain to date and can break through the protection of the COVID-19 vaccine. Several major U.S. cities have seen significant increases in incidence. In New York State, the outbreak has caused a spike in hospitalization rates, which have soared by 50% since June, with nearly 2,800 COVID-19 patients already hospitalized for treatment. During the same period, New York City has seen a 70 percent increase in the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and a nearly two-fold increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in New York City’s five borough intensive care units.
Faced with the threat of two major epidemics, the Biden administration has begun to strain to raise funds.
Recently, U.S. Senate Democrats introduced an emergency supplemental funding bill of up to $21 billion (about $140 billion) to deal with COVID-19 and other emerging outbreaks. Several medical experts have warned that as many as 100 million Americans will be infected or re-infected in the coming months if Congress lacks funding support. It is reported that $5 billion of the $21 billion in the bill will be used for emergency funding for the global response to COVID-19.
In addition, the bill provides $16 billion in emergency funding through the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund, including
- 9 billion for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority for advanced research and development, manufacturing, production, procurement, and distribution of medical countermeasures against COVID-19, including vaccines, therapies, tests, diagnostics, and medical products and supplies.
- 25 billion in flexible funding to allow the Department of Health and Human Services to purchase and distribute vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to ensure adequate supplies to meet demand in the event of a new variant or a surge in infection.
- 750 million for vaccine research and clinical trials against COVID-19 strains, and to support domestic manufacturing capacity.
In fact, in the face of a wave of infections from the faster-spreading and more immune-escapable Omicron BA.5 and the nationwide spread of the monkeypox virus, U.S. scientists, medical professionals, and global health experts continue to warn that without additional funding support, the U.S. will struggle to cope with a wave of COVID-19 infections this fall and winter, with an expected surge in hospitalizations and potential deaths, and as many as 100 million in the coming months Americans may be infected or re-infected.
The Biden administration is currently planning to purchase an updated “booster” of the COVID-19castle vaccine, which will be available to the U.S. public in September, according to the New York Times, which cited sources familiar with the matter. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has pre-ordered 105 million doses of Pfizer’s updated version of the vaccine for $3.2 billion, which may be available this fall, according to the report; in addition, the U.S. government said it agreed to buy 66 million doses of Modena COVID-19 vaccine, which is updated for the Omicron subtype variant BA.4 and BA.5, for fall and winter boosters for $1.74 billion. vaccinations. Thus, the emergency funding provided in the bill will allow the Biden Administration to procure the necessary tests, treatments, and vaccines for the anticipated fall surge.
