Since the start of the pandemic, both former President Trump and President Biden have repeatedly renewed a special declaration of a national and public health emergency. But the government’s approach toward COVID has dramatically changed and Biden said he would allow that emergency declaration to end in May. William Brangham spoke with Lawrence Gostin about what it will mean.
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Amna Nawaz: Since the start of the pandemic, both former President Trump and President Biden have repeatedly renewed a special declaration of a national and public health emergency. But the government's approach toward COVID has dramatically changed. And, yesterday, the president said he would allow that emergency declaration to end in May. William Brangham looks at what that will mean.
William Brangham: Amna, this is the government essentially saying that COVID-19 isn't as grave a threat as it once was, and, thus, certain policies can be phased out. House Republicans have been pressuring the administration to make this exact move. But COVID is still killing more than 500 Americans every single day, on average, and has cumulatively killed well over a million of us. Joining me now is Lawrence Gostin, who tracks all of this very closely. He's at Georgetown University's Global Health Institute. Larry Gostin, great to have you back on the program. I mentioned the GOP pressure on the administration, House Republicans just introduced this bill called the Pandemic Is Over Act, which would basically do what the administration says they're going to do. Do you think the administration wanted to do this, or is this bowing to political pressure?
Lawrence Gostin, Georgetown University: Yes, I think it's a little of both William. I mean, certainly, all emergencies have to come to an end. And we have been at this COVID emergency for three years now, originally with President Trump declaring it in January 2020. But there has been enormous pressure. I mean, it's certainly from Congress. It's from Republican governors. It's from the public that just seems to be so fatigued and over COVID, and even from its own agency. The Food and Drug Administration is planning on cycling to seasonal COVID shots, the way we do flu shots. So, all of this is a political, a strong political signal that we need to move on. But we need to do — we need to have a soft landing. And I think that's why the administration has put this back until May 11.
William Brangham: So, practically speaking, when the government says that the public health emergency is over, what does that mean? What follows? Well
Lawrence Gostin: Well, first, we have to be clear that the crisis is still here, and particularly for the vulnerable. You mentioned more than 500 deaths a day. That's twice the average flu season, but that's in a severe flu season. We have got COVID exploding in China. We have got variants and subvariants that are on the horizon. And so, for the young and healthy, it may be older — over. But, for the vulnerable, it's not. What this is going to mean is that it's going to unravel a whole social safety net. People will find it harder to get health insurance, particularly Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, Veterans Administration benefits, and even private insurance. It'll start to cost money for tests, therapeutics, and, ultimately, for vaccines as we transition to the private market. That means that the uninsured, the underinsured, the poor are going to really lack access the way they have been accustomed to doing now. CDC is going to have a lot more trouble getting data from the states and doing surveillance. And there's also implications even for Title 42, which is the program that expels asylum seekers coming to the United States.
William Brangham: Yes, what is the application for Title 42? Because I know that this has been another one of these political hot potatoes that has been fought over. You — if you declare the emergency is over, does that change Title 42 in any real way?
Lawrence Gostin: It actually does. Title 42 itself is not dependent on a declaration, a formal declaration of a public health emergency. But if you actually look at CDC's original order, the order says that it stays in place until CDC decides to take it down or until a formal declaration of emergency is over. So, on May 11, like it or not, Title 42 is gone, unless, for some reason, CDC were to issue a fresh order. CDC won't do that because my understanding is CDC has never been in favor of this, because it's really not justified by public health. It's really more a border control policy, and an inhumane one, at that.
William Brangham: You wrote on Twitter that this is the equivalent of waving the white flag of surrender. Do you really think that that's the case, I mean, given, as you're describing, that Congress has kind of done this. The American public has certainly decided, we're done with this. So, what are we surrendering to?
Lawrence Gostin: I worry that, when the next variant or subvariant comes, that it has more immune escapability, perhaps even more pathogenic or deadly, that, when CDC says, put on a mask or get your booster shot, that people's eyes may roll. And I think it's fine for the young and the healthy, but I really worry about the poor, the uninsured, those with deep underlying health conditions and vulnerabilities. I think they are at grave risk. And that's what really worries me the most. I do understand and I agree with President Biden that all emergencies do eventually come to an end. But I wish we would be able to have a safe landing, in the sense that we really protect the health care insurance and social safety net for the most vulnerable among us, because they're still at grave risk.