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US will end public health emergency for Covid in May: What it means
Covid In US: White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that the declarations will expire in the coming months.
The United States is set to end Covid emergency declarations on May 11, almost three years after massive pandemic measures were imposed in the country to stem the spread of the infection, the White House announced.
Put in place in 2020 by then-US president Donald Trump, the Covid national emergency and public health emergency, were repeatedly extended by now president Joe Biden owing to which millions of Americans received free tests, vaccines and treatments. However, White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) said that the declarations will expire in the coming months.
They will be extended again until May 11 and then terminated, it informed.
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"This wind-down would align with the Administration's previous commitments to give at least 60 days' notice prior to termination of the PHE," OMB said.
What will change with the announcement?
At present, the government has been paying for vaccines, Covid tests and certain treatments according to the declarations. When they expire, these costs will be shifted to private insurance and government health plans.
The US government will also veto a proposed bill in the Congress that would eliminate Covid vaccine mandates for health care providers, OMB noted. The change comes as Covid cases continue to decline in the United States though the number of related deaths are still over 500 people each day, government data showed.
