Federal Government Pulls Back $11.4 Billion in COVID Health Funds

Key TakeawaysThe federal government is taking back $11.4 billion in unused COVID fundsThe money supported testing, vaccines and moreExperts warn this could hurt efforts to track and fight other diseases.WEDNESDAY, March 26, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The federal government is clawing back $11.4 billion in COVID funding, a move that could affect local and state public health efforts across the country.The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said the money is no longer needed.“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the HHS said in a statement.The money supported COVID testing, vaccines, global health projects and community health worker programs, according to The Associated Press.It also funded efforts to reduce COVID health disparities in high-risk groups, including minority communities.Termination notices began going out Monday. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expected to start recovering the funds 30 days later.Lori Freeman, CEO of the National Association of County & City Health Officials, said some of the funds were already set to expire in the next six months.Still, she criticized the move.“It’s ending in the next six months,” she said. “There’s no reason -- why rescind it now? It’s just cruel and unusual behavior.”In Washington state, more than $125 million in COVID funds were cut. In Los Angeles County, health officials warned they could lose over $80 million.“Much of this funding supports disease surveillance, public health lab services, outbreak investigations, infection control activities at healthcare facilities and data transparency,” a Los Angeles county health department official told The Associated Press.The money was originally provided through laws like the COVID relief bill and the American Rescue Plan Act, passed under both the Trump and Biden administrations.Freeman said most of the money had already been sent to state governments, which then decide how to use it locally.Freeman also pointed out that COVID programs are now used for more than just COVID.Wastewater surveillance started during the pandemic is now used to monitor flu, measles and other outbreaks.“It was being used in significant ways to track flu and patterns of new disease and emerging diseases -- and even more recently with the measles outbreak,” Freeman said.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has also canceled more than two dozen COVID-related research grants. And earlier this month, the free COVID test ordering site, covidtests.gov, was shut down.Even though the federal public health emergency has ended, an average of 458 Americans a week have died from COVID-19 in the past four weeks, CDC data show.HHS did not detail how it plans to recover the money but said “the $11.4 billion is undisbursed funds remaining.”More informationThe World Health Organization has more on the coronavirus.SOURCE: The Associated Press, March 25, 2025.What This Means For YouWith COVID grants being rescinded, local health services like vaccines and disease tracking could be affected..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter