The United States will keep the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency status of the pandemic in place, allowing millions of US citizens to get free COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines until April 2023, say US government officials.
The US population may be in the middle of a COVID-19 surge in January 2023, and this is not the moment they want to pull down the COVID-19 public health emergency, said officials. The government of the United States has been paying for some COVID-19 tests, vaccines, and treatments, as well as other care, under the declaration of a public health emergency.
The possibility of a winter increase in COVID-19 cases, and the need for extra time to transition out of the public health emergency to a private network were two main factors that contributed to the decision of the US government not to end the emergency status in January, 2023.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has promised to give the US states 60 days’ notice before ending the public health emergency. One official said that health experts believe that the country will now see a COVID-19 surge come winter.
When the COVID-19 public health emergency expires, the US government will start transferring COVID-19 healthcare to the government health plans and private insurance.
