The Well being Sources and Companies Administration will distribute $350 million to fund COVID-19 vaccination efforts at group well being facilities, the Well being and Human Companies Division company introduced Tuesday.
This announcement comes one week after President Joe Biden requested Congress for the third time to make extra COVID-19 funding out there to organize for a winter surge, speed up analysis for lengthy COVID, develop new vaccines and coverings, and ease the transition of vaccines and therapeutics to the business market. Congress failed to offer the cash Biden beforehand requested due to objections from Republican lawmakers.
“These funds will be sure that individuals who dwell in underserved communities have entry to up to date COVID-19 vaccines this winter by means of community-based vaccination occasions hosted by healthcare suppliers and organizations they belief,” HRSA Administrator Carole Johnson stated within the information launch.
HRSA-funded group well being facilities and people who obtained American Rescue Plan funding are eligible for the cash. The company encourages well being facilities to increase hours and off-site vaccine areas along with increasing transportation and translation providers.
The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination marketing campaign has sputtered after excessive demand when photographs first turned out there to most people final yr.
As of Nov. 15, greater than 228 million individuals had gotten their first two photographs, and 35.3 million individuals aged 5 and over had obtained bivalent boosters, in keeping with Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention information. About 80% of the inhabitants has obtained at the very least one dose, whereas 11.3% have gotten the entire out there photographs, together with the most recent booster. On Nov. 15, about 40,000 obtained COVID-19 vaccines in contrast with 1.6 million on the identical date in 2021.
Nationally, 280,711 new COVID-19 circumstances had been reported final week and hospitalizations had been up 1.7% from the earlier seven days, the CDC reported.