As hospitalizations and case numbers increase, alongside concerns of new Covid strains, President Biden said that he would seek additional funding from Congress to develop a new vaccine. As with any mutating virus, updated vaccines are essential.
“I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary — that works,” Biden said yesterday.
He added that the new vaccine would be recommended to everybody, whether they have been vaccinated against Covid before or not.
Biden’s comments come as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it has detected a new coronavirus variant, labeled BA.2.86. CDC says this variant is notable because it has multiple genetic differences from previous versions. Scientists are currently evaluating the effectiveness of the forthcoming Covid vaccine on BA.2.86, which has already been developed and is expected to be available this fall.
On August 23, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, awarded more than $1.4 billion for Project NextGen to support the development of a new generation of tools and technologies to protect against Covid for years to come. This would include vaccines as well as therapeutics and technologies that would enhance future responses.
While the uptick in cases and hospitalizations is a cause for concern, it is worth noting that the latest statistics available indicate approximately 12,000 Covid hospital admissions in the U.S. whereas previous peaks have seen over 1000,000 admissions. Nevertheless, the CDC is seeing a rate of increase in both hospitalizations and deaths of around 20 percent.
