ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Money for COVID-19 is not part of the spending bill President Biden just signed Tuesday, but another bill in the Senate could help to fund some projects now and in the future.
Dr. Nikki Teran from the non-partisan group Institute for Progress gave us a sharper insight into the Prepare for and Respond to Existing Viruses, Emerging New Threats, and Pandemics Act, also known as PREVENT Pandemics Act. She is the senior biosecurity fellow.
Dr. Teran says the White House asked for $65 billion, but the Senate bill only has about $2 billion that doesn't include funding for vaccines, therapeutics, or diagnostics.
One of the things the PREVENT Pandemics bill would do is create an Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy in the Executive Office.
“That is really important so that it actually stays on everyone’s agenda. Also, that group can advocate within the executive branch for additional funding,” Dr. Teran said.
She also says having labs available to assess the situation in a future pandemic is key.
“The PREVENT Pandemics Act does have a section on biosafety," Dr. Teran said. "When you do have a pandemic, you’re going to need to study that pathogen, and you need to be able to do that safely and quickly so you’d have to have good biosafety infrastructure."
She also says there has to be a multi-layered approach.
“There is a lot of focus on public health. Although public health is really important for dealing with a pandemic, as we saw in the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s not the end all be all. You really need that genomic surveillance, you really need those therapeutics, you really need those vaccines in order to actually stop a pandemic,” Dr. Teran said.
She points out the PREVENT Pandemics Act is a Senate bill, and the house will also need to pass it or their own version of the bill.
Rep. Kathy Castor represents the Tampa Bay area in Congress and is on the Health Subcommittee. Dr. Teran says if you want to see more funding for preventing future pandemics, you should contact lawmakers.