Comment The Biden administration estimated privately in Congress this month that nearly $7 billion might be needed to respond to the nation’s monkeypox outbreak to match “the scope and urgency of the current situation.” The funding estimate, the details of which were contained in a memo addressed to President Biden and obtained by the Washington Post, reflected early talks between congressional Democrats and White House officials to pursue a spending package that could boost the availability of smallpox test and vaccine. doses and treatments. The amount did not constitute a formal request for help to Congress. Instead, it was one of a series of options that reflected various amounts that could fund various levels of federal mitigation efforts. White House aides recently presented the ideas at the request of Democratic leaders to the Senate’s top health-focused committee, according to the memo. A Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the private conversations, confirmed the funding details to The Post. The Biden administration has also requested $31.4 billion in new funds to fight the coronavirus pandemic as it seeks to ensure the government has the resources it needs to buy more treatments, tests and vaccines this year. The White House had already repeatedly urged Congress to approve another tranche of aid aimed at Covid-19. But Republicans have raised numerous budget objections to additional federal spending, resulting in an impasse that has forced the Biden administration to make do with a share of the remaining funds. New discussions around monkeypox aid could face similar political hurdles, because some GOP lawmakers have previously said they are only willing to reuse existing funds, not approve new dollars. The private discussions unfolded as public health experts warned that monkeypox, which can be spread by skin-to-skin contact and cause fever, lesions and severe pain, is at risk of becoming permanently established in the United States. Federal officials have identified about 3,500 cases, the vast majority among gay and bisexual men, and have warned that the virus is likely to spread to wider populations. The World Health Organization said Saturday that the global monkeypox outbreak was a public health emergency of international concern, its highest-level warning, and Biden officials are considering a similar declaration, although the current outbreak has not yet been linked to no deaths in the US. After this story was published, an administration official confirmed the White House’s ongoing discussions with Congress about monkeypox funding. “As part of our regular conversations with Congress about various resource needs, the Administration this weekend responded to a request from Hill staff for additional information about the Administration’s public health response efforts, including the response to the smallpox outbreak. of monkeys and the additional resources needed to continue it. ” the official, who requested anonymity, wrote in an email. According to the memo obtained by The Post, officials estimate that $6.9 billion in new funding to address monkeypox will allow the Department of Health and Human Services to support “end-to-end domestic vaccine production capacity and technology transfer’ to the United States . The only vaccine specifically approved by the Food and Drug Administration for monkeypox, Jynneos, is produced in Denmark, which has caused significant complications in the U.S. response — for example, hundreds of thousands of Jynneos doses had been blocked overseas for weeks, awaiting US inspection and transport. With that much funding, officials further estimate they will be able to secure 19 million new doses of monkeypox vaccine and replenish about 4 million doses to halt smallpox preparedness efforts, as well as buy more antiviral treatments, expand trials, improve vaccine distribution. and provides coverage of services for uninsured and underinsured Americans, among other goals. Health officials also weighed in on the effects of a “medium” second option, seeking $2.2 billion in monkeypox funding to buy certain doses of vaccines and treatments that would target the gay and bisexual community, where the outbreak currently resides concentrated. However, the amount can only provide an effective response if the outbreak remains contained and does not spread to wider populations, “which is not guaranteed,” the memo warns. Officials also estimated a $500 million alternative that would allow some vaccine doses to be purchased and “minimal” operations to continue. Health officials said they are funding the current monkeypox response by drawing on existing appropriations and a response fund maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Biden administration has distributed 330,000 vaccines and contracted for a total of 6.9 million doses of Jynneos through mid-2023, in addition to other investments in testing and treatments. The talks come as Democrats on Capitol Hill sound increasing alarms about the need for the federal government to act quickly and more aggressively. The party’s lawmakers sent a flurry of letters last week that showed some of their discomfort with the situation, arguing in some cases that the U.S. government has not done enough to provide tests, treatments and vaccinations to those most in need. In a letter to the Biden administration sent Monday, more than 100 House Democrats led by Reps. Jerrold Nadler (DN.Y.) and David N. Cicilline (DR.I.) called for “additional funding” that could support health clinics tasked with responding to monkeypox. Lawmakers said the lack of financial resources jeopardized local work to conduct contact tracing and provide other essential services, adding to the burden on doctors and aides already overtaxed by the coronavirus pandemic. “What we’re hoping is that the experience with the coronavirus will inform the response to this outbreak,” Cicilline said in an interview Tuesday. Separately, 22 other Democrats led by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) expressed growing “concern” about the recent cases and called on the Biden administration to increase access to vaccines. Lawmakers said the lack of vaccinations had harmed “at-risk” populations, particularly the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, for whom health care may already be “inaccessible or otherwise denied.” “In light of this high demand and the communities affected by the outbreak in the United States to date, we urge you to work urgently to take the necessary steps to respond to this public health concern and ensure adequate doses and equitable distribution of the vaccine in the United States,” the Democrats wrote in their dispatch. And Markey on Tuesday further called on the CDC to “reduce barriers” to access to a key treatment, known as tecovirimat, that has been difficult to obtain for monkeypox patients. In doing so, Markey asked HHS and CDC officials if they needed “additional funding” to ensure its availability. Meanwhile, Senate Republicans continued to press the White House over its emerging response to monkeypox and the ongoing response to the coronavirus. Sen. Richard Burr (RN.C.), the top Republican on the Senate health panel, earlier this month sent a letter to Biden officials criticizing their “remarkable failures” in testing and distributing monkeypox vaccines and demanding the government’s “detailed strategy”. on how to respond to the current outbreak. Burr also spent months warning the White House that he did not intend to support more coronavirus funding until he was sure that the previous trillions of dollars in funding had been properly spent. In general, Republicans have demanded that Democrats reuse previous stimulus to cover the cost of any new public health spending. Without GOP support, Democrats cannot advance any aid package in the closely divided Senate. The Biden administration has repeatedly called for more funding for the coronavirus, warning that it is increasingly being forced to shift money from other needed initiatives, such as a move last month to take $10 billion from testing and other programs to buy more vaccines. The White House on Tuesday hosted experts who advocated for the “next generation” of coronavirus vaccines that could last longer and provide more protection against the virus, the latest attempt by the administration to highlight the need for more investment. “We must continue to innovate, be creative and put big ideas into action. We must continue to fund these ideas with the support of Congress,” said Alondra Nelson, the deputy director of the White House science office.
