The COVID-19 public health emergency seems to have an end date.
The White House emergency declaration is set to expire after an initial extension into May. The World Health Organization also stated this week the global pandemic is not yet over, but is most likely to end this year.
But Graham McKeen, the assistant director of IU’s Public and Environmental Health, is still concerned. More than three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, he says it is hard to know the wreckage left behind, as in the last year there seems to be a lack of surveillance, data, and reporting with clinical cases.
“Just because it has trended to evolve to be more intrinsically less severe from an acute phase, that doesn't mean that it can't evolve to be more severe in the future,” McKeen said. “I think it's a big misnomer that people have.”
Ending the national and public health emergencies also means many Americans will have to pay for COVID-19 testing, treatment, and vaccinations.
Read More: End of the federal public health emergency prompts confusion for recipients and providers
McKeen is concerned about equity when it comes to health care in a post-pandemic world, as there were also social safety net benefits provided to several Americans.
“There were some food stamp benefits that were increased during the pandemic that will decrease when the emergency ends. And a lot of people might actually be kicked off Medicaid when this occurs as well,” McKeen said. “We might have millions of Americans losing healthcare coverage. So, I think that's a big concern.”
Pfizer and Moderna announced commercial prices for their vaccines could be between $82 and $130 per dose.
The next public health frontier IU is focused on is indoor air filtration, McKeen stated. The university will begin to direct funding into this area, he said.
