(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) The United States Department of Health and Human Services did not express any intent to lift the COVID public health emergency, which hit its deadline on Friday, stretching out the official state to at least April 2023.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra promised to give 60 days notice before lifting the declaration when he extended the measure in October, the Daily Wire reported.
The warning would allow organizations to prepare for a return to normal operations.
Keeping an active state of public emergency, however, does effect American’s ability to access health insurance.
15 million people will be unenrolled from both Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance programs that are available through the government once the state of emergency is abandoned.
The public health emergency also makes it easier to access COVID vaccines, which the government will continue to purchase with tax dollars and provide to citizens.
January 27, 2023 will mark the third year of the public health emergency.
In the lead up to the holiday season, Chicago has raised its city-wide COVID alert to “medium.”
“With Thanksgiving less than two weeks away and the expected rise in winter-related respiratory virus circulation, I urge all Chicagoans to stay up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations and get their flu shot now,” Chicago’s public health commissioner, Dr. Allison Arwady, said.
Neither the Biden administration nor representatives for the HHS have made a statement regarding the extended state of emergency, even after President Joe Biden publicly declared that Americans do not have as much to worry about.
“The pandemic is over,” Biden said in an interview. “We still have a problem with Covid. We’re still doing a lotta work on it. … But the pandemic is over.”
Several conservative groups have criticized the Biden administration for pushing the state of emergency on for so much longer than necessary.
“They will never give up their emergency powers willingly,” student group Young Americans for Liberty posted on Twitter. “They will never give up their emergency powers willingly. Oldest trick on the government playbook.”
Kyle Becker, CEO of Becker News accused Democrats of kicking the can to allow for mail-in voting in 2024.
This just in: The Biden administration is extending the COVID-19 "public health emergency" until at least April.
This is not about "public health." This is about blue states keeping the mass mail-in ballots for 2024.
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) November 11, 2022
 The United States Department of Health and Human Services did not express any intent to lift the COVID public health emergency, which hit its deadline on Friday, stretching out the alleged state of emergency to at least April 2023.){kind=link}