Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
The Biden administration announced this month that billions of dollars in federal money will be used to help communities hardest hit by the pandemic, including $2.25 billion in grants for public health departments to promote health equity (Source: “White House Sets Aside Billions for Health Equity,” WebMD, March 17, 2021).
The funding, which will be distributed as grants averaging $20 million, will improve testing and contact tracing, along with prevention strategies, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services signed a $150 million agreement to help vulnerable areas get better access to monoclonal antibody therapy — lab-made proteins that mimic an immune response and have been shown to prevent severe illness in COVID-19 patients. This may include more staff and equipment needed to administer the antibodies via IV, said Marcela Nunez-Smith, MD, the White House COVID-19 equity task force chair.