Public Health Emergency Funding Ends, HHS Provides Transition
With the anticipated end of the public health emergency looming after three years of being consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services (HSS), wrote a letter to state governors (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/letter-us-governors-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-renewing-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html) praising their efforts in the pandemic, offering a supportive hand, and highlighting the Biden-Harris administration’s accomplishments in combating COVID-19.
“We have come to this point in our fight against the virus because of our historic investments and efforts to mitigate its worst impacts,” Becerra said (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/letter-us-governors-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-renewing-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html). “We will transition our COVID-19 policies, as well as the current flexibilities enabled by the COVID-19 emergency declarations, into improving standards of care for patients. My team throughout the entire department and I are eager to partner with you to ensure this process is as seamless as possible.”
Becerra said (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/letter-us-governors-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-renewing-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html) that the administration’s “whole-of-government approach” enabled the United States’ transition from the emergency phase.
“Over the past two years, the Biden-Harris administration has effectively implemented the largest adult vaccination program in U.S. history, with nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Becerra said (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/letter-us-governors-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-renewing-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html). That and other efforts resulted in (https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2023/02/09/letter-us-governors-hhs-secretary-xavier-becerra-renewing-covid-19-public-health-emergency.html):
- A 92% decrease in daily COVID-19 reported cases
- An 80% decrease in both COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths
Hear oncology nurses’ voices from the frontlines of that work in the Reflections on COVID-19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses audiobook (https://view.ons.org/audio-2dWM2E?ref=CO) or volume 1 (https://www.ons.org/books/reflections-covid-19-and-cancer-care-stories-oncology-nurses) and volume 2 (https://www.ons.org/books/reflections-covid-19-and-cancer-care-stories-oncology-nurses-volume-2) of the printed edition.