Alesia Horton, director of the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala., looks out the window at protesters. A deeply religious woman, she says of those who picket the clinic: “God isn’t theirs. God is all of ours.” — AP Photo/Allen G. Breed
Head nurse Francia Webb talks to a client about abortion options at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa, Ala. — AP Photo/Allen G. Breed
A syringe is prepared with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination clinic at the Keystone First Wellness Center in Chester, Pa. — AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File
Pedestrians wearing protective masks walk along Broadway in the SoHo district of New York. — AP Photo/John Minchillo, File
WASHINGTON — The White House is planning for “dire” contingencies that could include rationing supplies of vaccines and treatments this fall if Congress doesn’t approve more money for fighting COVID-19.
In public comments and private meetings on Capitol Hill, Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House coronavirus coordinator, has painted a dark picture in which the U.S. could be forced to cede many of the advances made against the coronavirus over the last two years and even the most vulnerable could face supply shortages.
Biden administration officials have been warning for weeks that the country has spent nearly all the money in the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan that was dedicated directly to COVID-19 response.
A small pool of money remains, and the administration faces critical decisions about how to spend it. That means tough decisions, like weighing whether to use it to secure the next generation of vaccines to protect the highest risk populations or giving priority to a supply of highly effective therapies that dramatically reduce the risks of severe illness and death.
That decision may be made in the coming week, according to the administration, as the White House faces imminent deadlines to begin placing orders for vaccines and treatments before other nations jump ahead of the U.S. in accessing supply.
Jha has warned that without more money, vaccines will be harder to come by, tests will once again be scarce, and the therapeutics that are helping the country weather the current omicron-driven surge in cases without a commensurate increase in deaths could be sold overseas before Americans can access them.
“I think we would see a lot of unnecessary loss of life if that were to happen,” Jha said this past week. “But we’re looking at all the scenarios and planning for all of them.”
He said the administration was “getting much more into the scenario-planning business to make sure that we know what may be ahead of us so we can plan for it and obviously also lay those out in front of Congress.”
Jha, who declined to put a specific projection on potential loss of life, has become the face of the Biden administration’s efforts to persuade Congress to approve an additional $22.5 billion for COVID-19 response.
“The scenarios that we’re planning for are for things like what if Congress gives us no money and we don’t have adequate vaccines,” Jha told the AP in a May 12 interview. “We run out of therapies. We don’t have enough tests. What might things look like? Obviously, that’s a pretty dire situation.”
Already, the domestic production of at-home testing is slowing, with workers beginning to be laid off. In the coming weeks, Jha said, manufacturers will sell off equipment and “get out of this business,” leaving the U.S. once again dependent on overseas suppliers for rapid test.
Drug manufactures and the Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, are working on evaluating the next generation of vaccines, potentially including ones that are targeted at the dominant omicron strain. But getting them ready before the predicted case surge in the fall means placing orders now, since they take two to three months to produce.
Jha said this week that the U.S. has yet to start negotiations with drugmakers because of the lack of money.
“We’ve had some very preliminary conversations with the manufacturers,” he said. “But the negotiations around it have not yet begun, partly because we’re waiting for resources.” He added: “The truth is that other countries are in conversations with the manufacturers and starting to kind of advance their negotiations.”
The U.S., he said, doesn’t have enough money to purchase additional booster vaccines for anyone who wants one. Instead, the supplies of those vaccines may be restricted to just the most vulnerable — not unlike the chaotic early days of the COVID-10 vaccine roll-out.
“Without additional funding from Congress, we will not be able to buy enough vaccines for every American who wants one once these new generation of vaccines come out in the fall and winter,” he said.
And while the U.S. has built up a stockpile of the antiviral pill Paxlovid, which has been widely effective at reducing severe disease and death, it’s running out of money to purchase new doses — or other, even more effective therapies that are in the final stages of development.
“If we don’t get more resources from Congress, what we will find in the fall and winter is we will find a period of time where Americans can look around and see their friends in other countries — in Europe and Canada — with access to these treatments that Americans will not have,” Jha said.
A congressional deal for a slimmed-down COVID-19 response package of about $10 billion fell apart in March over the Biden administration’s plans to lift virus-related restrictions on migration at U.S. borders. But a federal judge on Friday put that plan on hold, just days before it was to take effect on Monday.
There is no guarantee of swift action on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers — particularly Republicans — have grown newly wary of deficit spending. On Thursday, a $40 billion measure to assist restaurants that struggled during the pandemic failed on those grounds. GOP lawmakers have also objected to additional funding for the global pandemic response, and called for any new virus response funding to come from unspent economic relief money in the $1.9 trillion rescue plan.
The administration is preparing to lay the blame on lawmakers if there are tough consequences this fall due to lack of money. Still, it could be perilous for Biden, who has struggled to fulfill his promise to voters to get control of the pandemic.
FILE - Connecticut Sun guard Yvonne Anderson, left, drives against New York Liberty forward Natasha Howard, right, in the second half during a WNBA basketball game, Tuesday, May 17, 2022, in New York. Yvonne Anderson understood that making a WNBA roster as an undrafted rookie was going to be tough and getting that chance a decade after she left college would be even tougher. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
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The School District of Philadelphia will resume universal mask wearing starting Monday due to the uptick in COVID-19 cases. —Tribune Photo/Abdul R. Sulayman
Masks will once again be required for the School District of Philadelphia starting Monday, according to district officials.
“To help protect everyone’s health and well being as COVID-19 case counts continue to rise in the Philadelphia area, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health has recommended we resume universal mask wearing,” said School District of Philadelphia superintendent William Hite in a statement.
All district students and staff will be required to wear their masks during the school and work day and while riding on school buses and vans until further notice.
“As we’ve learned since the pandemic began, the coronavirus continues to evolve and so too will our response to it,” Hite said.
“As we work together to minimize the spread, please remember that our health and safety protocols are still in effect, including notifying the district if you test positive for COVID-19,” Hite added.
As of May 16, Philadelphia is averaging 364 new cases of COVID-19 per day over the last two weeks. Hospitalizations in the city have also doubled. While Philadelphia officials say they’re not reinstating the mask mandate at this time, they’re recommending wearing masks indoors.
The School District of Philadelphia is the latest school district to require universal mask wearing. Students in the Cheltenham School District and Lower Merion School District started wearing masks again Friday.
District officials said they will continue to work with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to monitor COVID case counts.
“The district encourages families and staff to take extra precautions to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and will continue to work with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health to closely monitor COVID case counts and implement any actions needed to protect the health and well-being of everyone in our schools.”
Mothers of Professional Basketball Players eastern region visit and donate to Life Turning Point of Philadelphia. Wendy Sparks, second from left, others not in order: Michelle Riddick, Janet Cook, Sheba Coffey, Daynia LaForce, Angela Jones and Kim Stevens. —Submitted Photo
When a program for women experiencing homelessness and their families was discontinued at its location in the 5200 block of Wayne Avenue in Germantown in 2019, Rita Whitaker, who served as director for many years and some board members, weren’t sure what to do.
“When it was shut down it came as a blow to some of us,” said Dee Adcock, a former board member of the previous group. “We knew that the program was good.”
Whitaker said: “A dedicated group of volunteers and faithful supporters approached me and asked if they could get the property back would I want to start my own ministry to continue the work and I agreed,” Whitaker said. “That is how Life Turning Point of Philadelphia was started and I became executive director and founder.”
Several former board members of the previous group like Adcock, agreed to invest in the non-profit.
In August 2021, Adcock, who is now president of Life Turning Point, purchased the building on Wayne Avenue, for about $650,000. He rents it to the group for a monthly fee of $1. But the group is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the building, he said. It was renamed Adcock Manor.
Life Turning Point is a faith-based organization that provides women and families, who are experiencing homelessness with a home for up to 18 months.
The group held an open house May 1.
Formed in 2019, Life Turning Point provides up to dozen families with a comprehensive, Bible-based, life-skills and training programs. During that time period, it helps to get them employment, permanent, affordable housing and become self-sufficient.
Many of the families served by Life Turning Point, are headed by a single parent, that because of a host of circumstances are living below poverty levels. The program also helps them break the cycle of negativity in their lives, overcome fear and find the courage to develop a new more positive outlook on life and overcome mental and emotional barriers to being successful.
Life Turning Point does not receive government funding, but instead relies on private donations and gifts, such as a $1,000 it received from Mothers of Professional Basketball Players Inc., who visited with the families last weekend.
“We look to do charity work for different organizations in need,” said Wendy Sparks, MPBP, Inc. Eastern region director. “The goal was to raise money and speak to the women. Our message is to let them know we all are the same.”
Sometimes, people look at us differently because our sons make millions of dollars, Sparks said. Some of us may have been in the same predicament as the women there, at one time or another, she said. “We gave them a message of hope and encouragement.”
Sparks said the group also donated toiletries and other personal items the families might need.
“I was impressed with the work Rita was doing and the conversations I had with her,” Sparks said, whose son, Khem Birch, is a 6-foot-9-inch forward who plays for the Toronto Raptors in Canada. The Raptors were defeated by the 76ers in the first round of the NBA Eastern Conference playoffs, this year.
In 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 23.3% of Philadelphia residents live in poverty, making it the poorest of the top 10 largest cities in the U.S.
