COVID-19

COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends: What That Means for You

Find out what the end of the public health emergency impacts vaccinations, treatments, testing and more.

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What to Know

  • The federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency is slated to end May 11 -- and with it comes the reality that the CDC will then have to work with less data in order to track the virus and its new variants.
  • As we enter this phase -- come the end of the public health emergency -- you’ll no longer see city mobile testing sites. However, vaccination, testing and treatment will still be available by appointment at NYC Health + Hospitals locations.
  • Other changes are underway as the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends Thursday.

The federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends Thursday -- and with it comes the reality the CDC may not have the data to track the virus and emergent variants as meticulously as it has the last few years.

"The end of the public health emergency means CDC will have less authority to collect certain types of public health data — that means less data will be available to us," Dr. Nirav Shah, the CDC's principal deputy director, told the press during a call earlier this month, CNBC reported.

Dr. Teresa Smith, an emergency physician at Kings County Hospital in New York City, said the country is at a place where society has learned to adjust — with vaccines and other preventative measures like hand washing and testing as well as treatments, like Paxlovid, during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

But Dr. Smith warned that it doesn't mean COVID is gone for good.

"Please believe COVID is not behind us. COVID exists and will exist throughout our lifetime," she said.

Starting next Thursday the federal government will stop covering covid testing and free test kits. Lynda Baquero reports.

As we enter this phase -- come the end of the public health emergency -- no longer will city mobile testing sites be seen throughout the five boroughs. However, vaccination, testing and treatment will still be available by appointment at NYC Health + Hospitals locations.

New Yorkers will still continue to have access to free at home delivery of treatments like Paxlovid.

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the health emergency declaration enacted by Gov. Ned Lamont at the immediate onset of the pandemic on March 10, 2020 is scheduled to expire on Thursday -- the same day as the federal public health emergency declaration is set to end.

Lamont's declaration helped the state's executive branch use certain emergency powers to address the crisis, provide flexibility in health-related areas and ensure federal resources could be delivered to the state. When the declaration expires, those powers also expire.

Scroll down to see what the end of the federal COVID-19 Public Health Emergency means.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, access to COVID-19 vaccinations and certain treatments, like Paxlovid and Lagevrio, will not be impacted.

However, according to the HHS, once the federal government stops purchasing or distributing vaccines and treatments this may impact payment, coverage and access. But, in preparation for this transition, government partners are making plans for a smooth transition for COVID-19 vaccines and certain treatments to enter "the traditional health care market, which will occur in the coming months."

"When that transition to the traditional health care market occurs, to protect families, the Administration has facilitated access to COVID-19 vaccines with no out-of-pocket costs for nearly all individuals and will continue to ensure that effective COVID-19 treatments, such as Paxlovid, are widely accessible," the HHS says, adding that "After the transition to the traditional health care market, out-of-pocket expenses for certain treatments, such as Paxlovid and Lagevrio, may change, depending on an individual’s health care coverage, similar to costs that one may experience for other covered drugs. Medicaid programs will continue to cover COVID-19 treatments without cost sharing through September 30, 2024. After that, coverage and cost sharing may vary by state."

For more information, click here.

During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ used a combination of emergency authority waivers in order to expand access to health care and to give health care providers the flexibilities needed to help the public. States, hospitals, nursing homes, and others are currently operating under hundreds of these waivers. However, since this excess capacity is no longer needed, these waivers, regulations and sub-regulatory guidance will end.

For Medicaid, some of these added public health emergency waivers and flexibilities will end May 11. However, others will remain in place for six months following the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency declaration.

For more information, click here.

While change in coverage for COVID-19 testing will take place following the end of the public health emergency, the government are maintaining stockpiles so that these tests came remain accessible at no cost. Additionally, the government will continue to distribute tests through COVIDtests.gov through the end of May.

For more information, click here.

Some COVID-19 data reporting and surveillance will change. This means that at the end of the public health emergency, the HHS will no longer have authority to require data from labs. This will, in turn, impact the reporting of negative test results and the calculation of positive COVID tests in some jurisdictions.

Shah acknowledged that disease surveillance in the U.S. was inadequate during the pandemic and needs to be improved, CNBC reported, adding that unlike other wealthy nations, due to this country's fragmented health-care system, authority to decide what disease data gets reported largely rests with corporations, the 50 states, tribes and territories — not the CDC.

However, according to the HHS, the CDC will continue to report data on COVID-19 trends.

With the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, the FDA will have limited ability to detect shortages of essential medical product shortages. The administration is seeking congressional authorization to extend the requirement for device manufacturers to notify the FDA of interruptions and discontinuances of devices

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