With tens of millions of Americans refusing to get vaccinated, President Biden is spending almost $10 billion on new and experimental Covid-19 treatments that will largely help those he hasn't been able to convince.
“Our vaccines are safe and highly effective, but even assuming we’re able to get vaccination rates up and boosters to those at highest risk of severe disease, Covid is there to stay,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease expert at New York University who advised the Biden transition.
While administration officials say their focus still remains on increasing vaccination rates, the deals with Pfizer and Merck will provide enough treatments for 15 million people by the end of next year if their drugs areThe $10 billion committed this month for the treatments comes on top of the $22.5 billion the United States has spent on vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Administration officials have said they expect to see an increase in cases in the colder months as people head indoors and gather for the holidays. “Although the highest risk are those people who are unvaccinated, we are seeing an increase in emergency department visits among adults 65 and older, which are now again higher than they are for younger age groups,” she told reporters.
The GlaxoSmithKline and the Eli Lilly treatments, while also highly effective, are delivered through IVs, so patients will have to go to a hospital or infusion center to receive them.