Last year during an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes, President Biden said the COVID-19 pandemic was over, a few weeks before the midterm elections.
“Is the pandemic over?” a reporter asked Biden. “The pandemic is over. We still have a problem with COVID. We’re still doing a lot of work on it,” Biden responded.
As with other deceptive actions taken by the far-left communists serving in various government positions, COVID has not left the psyche of the radical left.
While America has been rebuilding its lives and the economy following the draconian lockdown and tyrannical mask policies, etc., the Biden administration has been funding research into the development of the next COVID-19 vaccine.
On Friday, President Biden said he just signed a request for additional funding from Congress for the development of a new COVID-19 vaccine, adding he may require everyone to take it, regardless of whether they previously received a vaccine or not.
Biden, now vacationing in the Lake Tahoe area was asked by a reporter on Friday if he could say anything about the uptick of COVID cases and a new variant.
“Yes, I can,” the president said. “I signed off this morning on a proposal we have to present to Congress a request for additional funding for a new vaccine that is necessary, that works.”
He added, “Tentatively it is recommended that it will likely be recommended everybody get it no matter whether they’ve gotten it before or not.”
In 22, the Biden administration requested $9.25 billion to fight the virus, but Congressional lawmakers refused the request.
The Associated Press said officials are expecting an updated COVID-19 vaccine containing one version of the omicron strain called XBB.1.5.
The new vaccine is a change from today’s combination shots, which mix the original coronavirus strain with last year’s most common omicron variants.
On Tuesday, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced funding of $1.4 billion to “support the development of a new generation of tools and technologies to protect against COVID-19 for years to come” according to a press release.
“Project NextGen is a key part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to keeping people safe from COVID-19 variants,” said HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra. “These awards are a catalyst for the program – kickstarting efforts to more quickly develop vaccines and continue to ensure availability of effective treatments.”
Project NextGen, a $5 billion initiative led by ASPR’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) in partnership with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), coordinates across the federal government and the private sector to advance innovative vaccines and therapeutics into clinical trials, regulatory review, and potential commercial availability for the American people. The project builds on a better understanding of COVID-19 – with HHS developing, using, and constantly re-evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current vaccines and therapeutics for over three years.
Recipients of the awards include:
- $1 billion to four BARDA Clinical Trial partners to support vaccine Phase IIb clinical trial studies: ICON Government and Public Health Solutions, Inc. of Hinckley, Ohio; Pharm-Olam, LLC, of Houston, Texas; Technical Resources Intl (TRI), Inc., of Bethesda, Maryland; and Rho Federal Systems, Inc., Durham, North Carolina.
- $326 million to Regeneron to support the development of a next-generation monoclonal antibody for COVID-19 prevention.
- $100 million to Global Health Investment Corp. (GHIC), the non-profit organization managing the BARDA Ventures investment portfolio to expand investments in new technologies that will accelerate responses in the future.
- $10 million to Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JLABS) for competition through Blue Knight, a BARDA-JLABS partnership.
The press release claims that their partnership with Regeneron will help develop a “novel monoclonal antibody that will protect people who do not respond to or cannot take existing vaccines,” despite their attempts to limit the distribution in Florida in 2021.
Next month, people will begin to receive the annual fall COVID-19 shot, as Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax are working on doses of the XBB update.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will need to sign off on each vaccine, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must issue recommendations for their use.
Ella Ford