This week was the one-year anniversary of the World Health Organization, which considers COVID-19 a pandemic, making both Americans and public health officials look back on what we have learned, how far we have come and how much more we need to go. During a keynote address hosted by The 19th, a non-profit news organization reported on gender, politics and policy, Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Marcella Nunez-Smith, Managing Director, Chair of the Task Force COVID-19 Health Equity Health in the White House, discussed where the country is currently in the fight against COVID and what is to come. Amid the discussion, Walensky shared the day she fears it could be inevitable in the pandemic: when the cost of the COVID vaccine falls on Americans. Read on to find out what she said, and what it might mean to you, and for more news on vaccines, check out dr. Fauci. Your COVID vaccine protects you for the time being.
On the CDC’s website, the agency clearly states: ‘The federal government provides the [COVID] vaccine free to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status. ‘
They warn that no one can be charged for the COVID vaccine, including ‘administration fees, copays or currency insurance’, and that providers cannot deny the vaccination to someone who does not have medical insurance coverage, is underinsured or out of the network. “
However, they note: “COVID-19 vaccine providers may reimburse the compensation of the vaccine’s plan or program (eg Private Health Insurance, Medicare, Medicaid) for a vaccine administration fee.” Those without insurance, the health and services assistance fund covers the cost of vaccinations. But Walensky said, unfortunately, that could change everything.
Read doctors for more information on what to expect from your jerk. This is what it means when you have no side effects.
During the discussion with the moderator Shefali Luthra, health care reporter at The 19th, Walensky pointed out that COVID-19, by its very nature as a seasonal respiratory virus that mutates, will continue to pay off in the future. “I’m worried about the day when the vaccine will no longer be free,” she said. What about all the people? What if we need a third booster? What happens then? Who is going to pay for it? “Unfortunately, there are no answers to the big questions yet.
While the initial vaccinations – two doses of Moderna and Pfizer, or one dose of Johnson & Johnson – will be covered by the government, it is very likely that you will need further vaccinations against COVID. First, because of the new strains and mutations that have emerged since the vaccines were created, pharmaceutical companies are working on booster shots to combat the variants, Walensky said.
Second, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla recently told NBC News that COVID shots are likely to become an annual occurrence. “Every year you have to get your flu vaccine,” Bourla said in late February. “It’s going to be the same with COVID. In a year, you should get your annual chance to protect COVID.” And experts say for more information on preparing for your shot: Do not do it the night before your vaccination.
“I think this pandemic is going to change a lot about how we think about the cost of health care, about access to health care,” Walensky said. But she was first-class about the scale of the challenge and the lack of simple answers with the cost of COVID. “I think I would be over my skis if I were to start talking exactly about health care reform,” she told Luthra. ‘
There is also a clear public appetite for this. A survey in ValuePenguin Health Care in January 2021 estimated that nearly 3 in 10 Americans lost their health insurance coverage in 2020 and remain uninsured until this year. Nearly half of respondents – 47 percent – lost their health coverage when they were fired or fired from their jobs as a result of the pandemic. The survey also found that 42 per cent of those without cover said they did not have the money to afford premiums. The burden fell heavier on women, with 51 per cent versus 34 per cent of men saying they could afford to pay their policy. And subscribe to our daily newsletter for more COVID news delivered directly to your inbox.
Experts have also warned about the strain that the cost of COVID “long-term vehicles” will place on the medical system, as patients suffering from post-viral conditions require long-term, complicated care. According to a report published in The guardian“At least 10 percent of the people who were allegedly infected with COVID-19 have developed long-term syndrome.” With the CDC estimating and growing current total case numbers at just over 29 million, it is possible that at least 3 million people in the US will need long-term care as a direct result of COVID.
“I think there are an extraordinary number of questions related to how this pandemic will be paid for, how the future of health care will be paid for, how the future of public health will be paid for,” Walensky said.
In her closing remarks, however, she also expressed the opportunity to learn from mistakes from the past and rediscover the system in a more effective way. ‘Because we are a product of the fact that we did not invest in it [public health]”I think all of these things will have to be on the table to move forward,” she said. who does not.Go away.