This is what the CDC director fears most about COVID right now

This week marked the first anniversary of the World Health Organization which considered COVID-19 a pandemic, which prompted Americans and public health officials to reflect on what we have learned, on the way we have to go. At a summit hosted by The 19th, a non-profit news organization that reports on gender, politics and politics, Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Marcella Nunez-Smith, MD, chairman of the White House COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force, discussed the country’s current situation in the fight against COVID and what will follow. In the midst of the discussion, Walensky shared the day she feared was 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 for you, and for more information on vaccines, check out Dr Fauci Says Your COVID Vaccine Protects You For A Long Time.

On the CDC website, the agency clearly states: “The federal government provides the [COVID] free vaccine for all people living in the United States, regardless of immigration or health insurance status. “

They warn that no one can be billed for the COVID vaccine, including “administration fees, copayments or coinsurance,” and that providers cannot “refuse vaccination to anyone who does not have coverage. health insurance, is underinsured or is off-grid. “

However, they note that “COVID-19 vaccine providers may request appropriate reimbursement from the recipient’s plan or program (eg, private health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid) for vaccine administration costs.” For those without insurance, the Emergency Fund for Providers of Resource Administration and Health Services covers the cost of vaccinations. But, said Walensky, unfortunately that could all change.

To learn more about what to expect from your vaccine, see Here’s what it means if you don’t have any side effects from the vaccine, doctors say.

During the discussion with the moderator Shefali luthra, healthcare reporter with The 19th, Walensky pointed out that, by its very nature as a seasonal respiratory virus that mutates, COVID-19 will continue to generate costs long into the future. “I’m worried about the day the vaccine will no longer be free,” she said. “What about all these people?” What if we need a third booster? What happens then? Who is going to pay for this? Unfortunately, there are no answers to these 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 highly likely that you will need further COVID vaccinations. First, due to new strains and mutations that have emerged since the inception of vaccines, pharmaceutical companies are working on booster shots to combat these variants, as Walensky alluded to.

Second, the CEO of Pfizer Albert Bourla recently told NBC News that the COVID shootings would likely become an annual event. “Every year you have to go get your flu shot,” Bourla said at the end of February. “It will be the same with COVID. In a year you will have to go get your annual vaccine for COVID to be protected.” And to learn more about preparing for your vaccine, see Don’t do this the night before your vaccine appointment, experts say.

“I think this pandemic is going to change a lot the way we think about the cost of health care, access to health care,” Walensky said. But she was honest about the scale of the challenge and the lack of straightforward answers given the cost of COVID. “I think I would be away from my skis if I started talking about what exactly healthcare reform looks like,” she told Luthra.

There is also a clear public appetite for this. A ValuePenguin healthcare survey in January 2021 estimated that nearly 3 in 10 Americans lost health insurance coverage in 2020 and remain uninsured this year. Almost half of respondents – 47 percent – had lost their health coverage when they were made redundant or fired from their jobs due to the pandemic. The survey also found that 42% of people without coverage said they didn’t have the money to pay the premiums. The burden is heavier on women, with 51 percent versus 34 percent of men saying they could afford to pay for their policy. And for more COVID information delivered straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

Experts have also warned of the strain the cost of “long-haul” COVID will place on the medical system, as patients with post-viral illnesses require complex long-term care. According to a report published in The Guardian, “At least 10 percent of people believed to have been infected with COVID-19 have developed long-haul syndrome.” With the CDC estimating the current total number of cases at just over 29 million and increasing, these are potentially at least 3 million people likely to need long-term care in the United States as a direct result of the disease. COVID.

“I think there are an extraordinary number of questions that are going to be associated with how this pandemic is going to be paid for, how the future of health care is going to be paid for, how the future of public health is going to be paid for. . for, ”Walensky said.

However, in her closing remarks she also expressed the possibility that we have to learn from the mistakes of the past and to reinvent the system more effectively. “Because we are the product of the fact that we have not invested in [public health]… I think all of these things will have to be on the table to move forward, ”she said. And for more on the latest events in the battle against COVID, check out Dr Fauci Says It’s The Symptoms Of COVID That Won’t Go Away.