| AP PHOTO/EVAN VUCCI |
President Joe Biden said Friday that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another new coronavirus vaccine, as scientists track new waves and hospitalizations rise, though not like before.
Officials are already expecting updated COVID-19 vaccines that contain one version of the omicron strain, called XBB.1.5. It’s an important change from today’s combination shots, which mix the original coronavirus strain with last year’s most common omicron variants. But there will always be a need for updated vaccines as the virus continues to mutate.
People should be able to start rolling up their sleeves next month for what officials hope is an annual fall COVID-19 shot. Pfizer, Moderna and smaller manufacturer Novavax all are brewing doses of the XBB update but the Food and Drug Administration will have to sign off on each, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must then issue recommendations for their use.
“I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to the Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works,” Biden, who is vacationing in the Lake Tahoe area, told reporters on Friday.
He added that it’s “tentatively” recommended “that everybody get it,” once the shots are ready.
The White House’s $40 billion funding request to Congress on Aug. 11 did not mention COVID-19. It included funding requests for Ukraine, to replenish U.S. federal disaster funds at home after a deadly climate season of heat and storms, and funds to bolster the enforcement at the Southern border with Mexico, including money to curb the flow of deadly fentanyl. Last fall, the administration asked for $9.25 billion in funding to combat the virus, but Congress refused the request. --->READ MORE HERE
Speaking to Moms for Liberty ahead of the Republican presidential debate, Johnson described the mandates as ineffective and promised to continue fighting them.
"It's alarming that the mandates are kicking in again," he said. "It's like, OK, we noticed masks didn't work, particularly for children. We always knew they didn't work for kids."
Morris Brown College in Atlanta has reinstated a mask mandate, while Rutgers University in New Jersey continues to enforce both a vaccine mandate and a mask mandate nearly four years after the first COVID-19 case emerged in China.
"Masks might have some marginal impact. We can't deny that fact," Johnson said. "N-95 masks can have some marginal benefits — but not to deny people freedom."
Johnson was always highly suspicious of the federal vaccine mandate and has advocated for those who have suffered an injury from the COVID-19 vaccines. He has attributed those positions to helping him win reelection last year. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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