The federal COVID emergency ends on May 11 after over three years, though it may end sooner if President Joe Biden signs a bill passed by the House and Senate. So what will that look like for you and how will local health departments respond moving forward?
鈥淔or a lot of people, they may not notice a significant change,鈥� said deputy chief for public health services, Sean O鈥橠onnell with the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.
Public health departments have filled a variety of roles during the pandemic, from tracking health data, offering guidance and distributing vaccines and COVID-19 tests.
O鈥橠onnell told 海角社区app many of their practices won鈥檛 go away, they will just transition to smaller-scale operations.
The Montgomery County Health Department will continue to administer vaccines at no charge.
鈥淭he federal government has been purchasing large amounts of COVID vaccine to distribute out to states and localities to administer to the public. That vaccine will continue to be free 鈥� while that supply lasts, and we don’t yet know how long that supply will last,鈥� said O鈥橠onnell.
O鈥橠onnell expects his health department and many others will make it to the middle of the summer with current supplies.
Deputy director for medical services at the Fairfax County Health Department Dr. Parham Jaberi told 海角社区app, 鈥淲e’re not holding any more of those large mass vaccination sites, but to the average individual if they still need those resources, that will be available in the community.”
Dr. Jaberi added that the Fairfax County Health Department will no longer offer free COVID-19 testing.
Insurers will also no longer be required to cover the cost of at-home tests.
Patients on Medicaid will still be able to get free tests until the end of 2024. Montgomery County will continue to have no out-of-pocket cost for tests if patients do not have insurance.
But O鈥橠onnell contends that testing, like much of the campaign against COVID, will become seasonal.
鈥淟ooking at times when transmission rates go up, and then we’ll want to make sure that the community has access to testing, but we likely won’t do it around the entire year. It’ll transition more into kind of how we deal with flu season,鈥� O鈥橠onnell told 海角社区app.
Local health departments will also likely take more of a seasonal approach to vaccine pushes as well.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still waiting to hear whether the CDC is going to recommend another round of boosters before the fall, or whether they’ll just wait till the fall to see if there’s any variance,鈥� said Dr. Jaberi.
鈥淚t is likely that we’ll get the common efforts between COVID and the flu in the future.鈥�
Community health data tracking will also focus on the fall and winter months.
鈥淐OVID cases have mirrored what we call 鈥� seasonal variation. So they have increased when it has gotten cooler, much like the flu, and they have come down as the weather has gotten warmer,鈥� Said Dr. Jaberi on the scaling down of their COVID surveillance operations.
Reporting requirements will also be relaxed for doctor鈥檚 offices, where they will not need to report any negative tests.
While health departments won鈥檛 see a shock other parts of the health sector will see drastic changes.
Hospitals will likely take a hit as they will no longer receive 20% extra for COVID-19 treatments for patients on Medicare.
