U. S. Senate ready for agreement on COVID funding
2022.04.01 00:57
U. S. Senate ready for agreement on COVID funding
By Ray Johnson
Budrigannews.com – On Thursday, negotiators in the U.S. Senate were getting close to reaching an agreement on a $10 billion COVID-19 bill that would assist the federal government in acquiring additional vaccines and medical supplies to prepare for future variants of the virus that toppled American life.
Democrat Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the Senate, said that senators were “close to a final agreement” on a bill that aimed to strengthen stockpiles that could be used domestically and internationally.
The Senate may be able to pass the bill and send it to the House of Representatives before the start of the spring recess at the end of next week if a deal is reached in the coming days.
In a speech to the Senate, Schumer stated, “We need more money right away so we have enough vaccines, testing, and therapeutics that save lives.”
The sum is a pittance compared to the $4.6 trillion that Congress has approved to combat the virus since the beginning of 2020. Most of this money was used to offset the severe economic impact of the virus.
Due to Republican opposition to increased federal spending, Congress failed to pass a $15.6 billion relief bill early this month. In the meantime, a lot of Democrats were against taking back some money that was supposed to help state and local governments pay for the next round of coronavirus relief.
According to Schumer, failure to adequately prepare for a potential new coronavirus variant could stall the pandemic fight and prevent most American institutions from reopening.
According to Republican Senator Roy Blunt, nearly half of the funding for the bill would come from reclaiming funds from previous COVID aid laws. These laws were meant to help aviation manufacturers and performing arts venues recover from being closed for prolonged periods of the pandemic.
There have been 6.5 million deaths worldwide from COVID-19, with 980,000 occurring in the United States alone. Even though the pandemic has begun to show signs of slowing down, leading many people to remove the medical masks that had become part of their daily routine, the number of deaths in the United States remains the highest in the world, at 710 per day on average.
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