COVID

via the BBC:

US exit from WHO could see fifth of budget disappear

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to begin the process of withdrawing the US from the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Oooh, that's a big one," the newly inaugurated US president said as he approved the document after arriving back at the White House. It was one of dozens of executive actions he put his signature to on day one in office.

...Under the Biden administration the US continued to be the largest funder of the WHO and in 2023 it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency's budget.

The organisation's annual budget is $6.8bn (£5.5bn).

It is possible that funding could disappear almost immediately, and it is not clear that other nations will step up to fill the gap.

A US withdrawal could have an impact on WHO's ability to respond to emergencies such as an Ebola outbreak, or MPOX – let alone another Covid-19-style pandemic.

Just a quick roundup of a whole series of COVID pandemic "winding down" actions which have taken place or are about to take place:

On March 13th, 2022, the Consolidated Appropriations Act was signed into law, formally setting March 31st, 2023 as the end date for the Medicaid Continuous Coverage provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act; since April 1st, so-called "Medicaid Unwinding" has begun.

On January 30th of this year, the Biden Administration announced that the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency would formally end on May 11th, 2023. In light of this, a few days ago, Dan Diamond of the Washington Post reported that federal COVID vaccination mandates will also end less than a week from today:

Last night President Biden raised a lot of eyebrows during a 60 Minutes segment in which he was being interviewed while walking through the Detroit Auto Show:

Scott Pelley: "Mr. President...first Auto Show in three years...is the pandemic over?"

President Biden: "The pandemic is over...we still have a problem with COVID...we're still doing a lot of work on it...but the pandemic is over...If you notice, no one's wearing masks; everyone seems to be in pretty good shape...and so I think it's changing, and I think this is a perfect example of it."

(sigh)

Then, today, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, who I had hoped would try to walk back and/or clarify the President's statement, instead doubled down on it:

U.S. Health Sec. Xavier Becerra supported a surprise comment over the weekend from President Joe Biden, who declared the pandemic over.

"The president is correct," Becerra told Yahoo Finance Monday.