Local health experts are raising concerns after news this week that federal funding for COVID-19 response could soon run out.
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Dr. Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Health Officer has been striking an upbeat tone in recent public remarks on the two years of pandemic response.
However, she remains on edge after warnings that federal COVID-19 funding could run dry following Congress' decision to hold off on passing additional money.
"We're in the middle of a global pandemic and federal funding has collapsed so we’re watching that," she said.
Dr. John Swartzberg, Professor Emeritus with UC Berkeley's School of Public Health is among those calling for the funding to get passed. He said without federal funding it could become more difficult to get a hold of COVID tests, certain COVID therapies, as well as N95 masks and it may get harder for the uninsured to find care.
"Those are just some of the myriad examples of where we are really dependent upon federal funding for a lot of the things that are necessary to take on this virus," Swartzberg said.
And while COVID cases continue to decline in the Bay Area the rise of a new variant might be a signal that yet another pandemic storm is brewing.
"And we don't want to face the storm unprepared, we don't want to start funding things after the explosion has already occurred," he explained. "So, we need to do these things now, we need to be proactive."
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