I remember passing the National Mall in Washington, DC last September, where little white flags were poking out of the ground almost as far as the eye could see. On many of the flags were the names of loved ones lost in the pandemic. At that time, at least 673,484 people had died from COVID-19 in the United States.
Today, just seven months later, that number has nearly doubled. Now, 1 million people in the United States have been lost due to COVID-19. About 24 million more people are currently suffering from prolonged COVID, which created at least 1.2 million disabled adults in 2021 compared to the previous year. More than 200,000 children have lost a primary parent or caregiver to COVID-19. It is a gloomy day and one that must be used to catalyze a Congress that has been anesthetized in the face of so much illness and pain.
As millions of people struggle to put food on the table due to soaring housing, food, and fuel costs, Congress has failed to take direct action to mitigate the lingering health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Under the leadership of President Joe Biden, the White House has proposed several plans to help communities, including the National Preparedness Plan COVID-19 and the Memorandum on how to address the long-term effects of prolonged COVID. Several congressional Democrats, including Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), as well as Reps. Rosa DeLauro (Conn.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass. .), Don Beyer (Virginia) and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (Del.), have pushed legislation to provide funding for vaccines, treatment and research.
However, the only legislation that has even come close to a vote has been DeLauro’s COVID supplemental bill, whose investments were cut from White House funds. $22.5 billion request down to $10 billion. Cut the financing of the costs of the invoice not only for the global vaccine program but also for vaccines, tests and treatments for people without insurance. The bill failed after several senators pushed for a amendment to the bill that would reverse Biden’s decision to end a 2020 Trump-era Title 42 order. The Title 42 removal order, a controversial policy that many in public health disagrees with, prevented people from applying for asylum by expelling them immediately due to the belief that it helped stop the spread of communicable diseases such as COVID-19.
As national programs for COVID-19 testing and treatment run out of funds, COVID-19 cases continue to rise across the country. Soon, millions uninsured individuals will be I can not access free vaccinations, tests and treatments. The poor, particularly those who are Dark brown, I disabledThey have borne the brunt of this pandemic. million americans they are out of work due to a long period of COVID, and are quickly running out of savings and disability insurance. Millions more people are without loved ones. It’s time for Congress to step up and take meaningful action before more Americans suffer or die.
Mia Ives-Rublee is director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress.
Reference-thehill.com