COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Status Likely to Remain in Place

Christmas shoppers wear masks in a file photo. Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters

The United States may keep in place the public health emergency status of the COVID-19 pandemic until at least April of next year as the Biden administration gave no signal to states Friday that it would rescind the rule next year.

Previously, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) told states they would get a notice of 60 days if the health emergency is to be lifted. The designation was renewed last month until Jan. 11, 2023.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has promised to give states 60 days’ notice before letting the emergency expire, which would have been on Friday if it did not plan on renewing it again in January.

“The COVID-19 public-health emergency remains in effect and as HHS committed to earlier, we will provide a 60-day notice to states before any possible termination or expiration,” Sarah Lovenheim, assistant secretary for public affairs at HHS, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Two Biden administration officials told Reuters that the federal government will keep its public health emergency intact past the Jan. 11 date. Those officials, who were not named in the report, claimed that the possibility of a winter surge in COVID-19 cases and the need for more time to transition out of the public health emergency to a private market were two factors that contributed to the decision.

COVID-19 cases and deaths have plummeted in recent months, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The government has been paying for COVID vaccines, some tests, and certain treatments, as well as other care under the public health emergency declaration. When the emergency expires, the government will begin to transfer COVID healthcare to private insurance and government health plans.

In January 2020, the health emergency was declared under the Trump administration and has been renewed every 90 days. Some Republican lawmakers have said the rule is not needed any longer and should be lifted, especially after President Joe Biden said in September that he believes the pandemic is over.

About a week ago, the Transportation Security Administration published a directive requiring COVID-19 vaccination for non-American citizens entering the country. The United States is now the only country in the West to retain such a rule.

While the vast majority of countries have dropped COVID-19 vaccine proof requirements for entry, the United States and a few other countries around the world continue to require them for non-citizens, with no alternate avenues for the unvaccinated such as requiring proof of immunity against COVID-19, a negative test, or a quarantine period instead. The other countries to impose such a rule are Pakistan, Indonesia, Ghana, and Liberia.

The Epoch Times has contacted HHS for comment.

Reuters and Mimi Nguyen-Ly contributed to this report.