Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Getty
Federal COVID funding is beginning to run out in the U.S. As the once-extensive government investment in vaccines, therapies and testing vanishes, epidemiologists are bracing for a major shakeup in—some would say “collapse of”—critical efforts to contain the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
Vaccine initiatives could suffer the biggest blow. With the impending end of government funding, Americans would have to start paying for their own COVID shots—a disincentive that could further suppress the country’s middling vaccination uptake, currently plateaued at 67 percent “fully” vaccinated, usually with two doses of a messenger-RNA vaccine.
Another likely victim is COVAX, the international vaccine consortium that buys jabs for poorer countries. COVAX has been struggling even before the coming squeeze on U.S. funding. Now an existing shortfall in doses is set to get a lot worse.