The President has signed off on the Congress ending the Covid Virus emergency…
Soooo?
President Biden is starting a “Project Next Gen” program to continue supporting Covid vaccine research and virus treatment
“It’s been very clear to us that the market on this is moving very slowly,” Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said Monday. “There’s a lot that government can do, the administration can do, to speed up those tools … for the American people.”….
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The planned launch comes after Biden health officials had funding requests for the program repeatedly rebuffed by Congress, with Republicans insisting the administration had funds left over from prior coronavirus aid packages. A pot of money was finally created after the White House directed HHS to free up $5 billion for the initiative. The agency shifted funds intended for coronavirus testing and other priorities, potentially teeing up new questions from Republicans about why those funds were available….
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Project Next Gen also faces key differences from its predecessor, including its smaller size and more open-ended mission. The Trump-era project, focused on an urgent need with a defined virus, drew on funds that officials viewed as a blank check and was budgeted at $18 billion in 2020. While the new initiative is more modest, administration officials said they might secure additional money, even as they focus on blunting variants and viruses that have yet to emerge.
Even some of the Republicans who blocked the White House’s coronavirus funding requests last year said they wanted a “Warp Speed 2.0” to rush updated vaccines and treatments that would better fight the virus….
Note…
The Biden ‘Project Next Gen’ program is giving a backhanded kudo to Trump’s Covid ‘Operation Warp Speed’….