The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is pulling back $11.4 billion in funds allocated to state and community health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients in response to the pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services confirmed Tuesday.
"The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago," HHS Director of Communications Andrew Nixon said in a statement. "HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again."
Notices began going out Monday. Awardees have 30 days to reconcile their expenditures, and figures are subject to change.
The funding slash comes on the heels of other cuts under new Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including the canceling of hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for research into vaccine hesitancy, LGBTQ populations and supporting HIV prevention.
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“The termination of this funding is for cause,” read notices of termination sent to grantees on Monday and shared with NBC News. “Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary as their limited purpose has run out.”
Talking points emailed from CDC leadership to agency departments on Tuesday said the rescinded funds were largely being used for Covid testing, vaccination, community health workers and initiatives to address Covid health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, including racial and ethnic minority populations and rural communities, as well as global Covid projects.
According to the talking points, CDC reviewed a list of HHS-provided Covid grants and cooperative agreements and identified the programs that were no longer needed.
A list of projects for the rescinded funds was not immediately available. Greg Flynn, media relations director for the Mississippi State Department of Health, confirmed the state had received notice of the funding decision and was “currently working to assess the potential impacts to our agency.”
Charla Haley, public information officer for Utah's Department of Health, said in an email, "We are currently evaluating impact."
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