Pelosi Pushes For $45 Billion In Covid Aid Amid High-Stakes Stalemate

Politico: Dems Search For Next Steps On Covid Aid As Headaches Pile Up
After two top Biden administration health officials pleaded with Democrats on Thursday to approve more coronavirus aid funding, Speaker Nancy Pelosi apologized to them in front of her caucus for having to ask at all. Pelosi told Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and top infectious disease adviser Anthony Fauci she was sorry they needed to come before House members from the president’s own party to call for $15 billion to continue the U.S. fight against Covid, domestically and abroad. (Ferris, Levine and Cancryn, 3/17)

The Hill: Pelosi Says White House Should Request $45B In New COVID Aid 
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday said she's advised the Biden administration to seek tens of billions of dollars more in emergency COVID-19 relief, suggesting it will take more than $40 billion to meet the testing, vaccine and therapeutic needs of the U.S. and the larger global community. President Biden had initially asked Congress for $22.5 billion in new funding to fight the ongoing pandemic — a figure that was whittled down to $15.6 billion in the face of Republican opposition on Capitol Hill. (Lillis, 3/17)

The Hill: Fauci Says Officials Need More Than $22.5B For COVID-19 Response 
President Biden’s chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci said in an interview aired on Thursday that officials need more than the $22.5 billion that the White House originally requested from Congress for the COVID-19 response. In an interview aired on "NBC Nightly News," NBC’s Miguel Almaguer noted to Fauci that the billions of dollars requested by the White House was a “hefty price tag,” asking if all the money was needed. “I have to tell you, we need more than that,” Fauci answered. Biden’s chief medical adviser said that officials needed adequate funding in order to study possible future variants. (Vakil, 3/17)

AP: The AP Interview: Health Chief Warns Of COVID Funds Shortage
With the nation yearning for a new normal after its long struggle with the coronavirus, U.S. Health Secretary Xavier Becerra warned Thursday that vaccines, tests and treatments will be “stuck on the ground” unless Congress provides the additional funds the White House has demanded. “We have reached a pivot point,” Becerra said in an interview with The Associated Press. “How well we pivot is on us.” (Alonso-Zaldivar, 3/18)

What's at stake? —

Axios: Coronavirus Vaccine Deadline Adds Urgency To COVID Funding Impasse
The U.S. government needs to contract with coronavirus vaccine makers by the end of the month in order to have enough booster shots for most Americans this fall but can't proceed until Congress approves more money, according to two senior Biden administration officials. The debate over another round of booster shots is already heating up, and some experts are skeptical that they'll even be needed soon. But there's no telling what will happen between now and September, when the administration wants to have doses on-hand in case they're needed. What they're saying: “If you want doses in the fall, we need to go to contract now. Not going to contract now puts those doses at risk," one of the senior officials told Axios. "We have to be prepared for a booster campaign beginning in September, in the fall." (Owens, 3/17)

NBC News: Loss Of Funding For Covid Treatments, Vaccines Puts The Uninsured In A 'Catastrophic' Place, Advocates Say
In 2020, about 28 million people had no insurance, according to the Census Bureau, while Medicaid and children's health insurance enrollment rose sharply during the pandemic to nearly 85 million people as of last fall. The program that has been critical to ensuring that the uninsured have equal access to Covid-related care is fading out at a time when cases and hospitalizations are low, and as states and cities wind down pandemic restrictions. But that shouldn't mean that government funding is no longer necessary to help the uninsured, health care advocates and public health policy experts say. (Ortiz, 3/17)

Bloomberg: Fauci Says U.S. Covid Cases Could Rise As Congress Stalls On Pandemic Funding
The U.S. could soon see Covid-19 cases rise again and vulnerable people are likely to need a fourth vaccine dose, one of President Joe Biden’s top health advisers warned as the White House calls for more money to fight the pandemic. Anthony Fauci, the longtime head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a Biden adviser, said U.K. officials are already warning him of an increase there driven by the BA.2 sub-variant, easing restrictions and waning protection from vaccines, and that the U.S. tends to be a few weeks behind case curves in the U.K. “We have all three of those factors right now in this country,” Fauci said in an interview Thursday. “I would predict that we are going to see a bit of an increase, or at least a flattening out and plateauing of the diminution of cases. And the question is how do we deal with that.” (Wingrove, 3/17)

Also on the federal pandemic response —

Stat: Is Ashish Jha What The U.S. Covid Response Needs Right Now?
When it comes to discussing the White House’s pandemic response on TV, there’s nobody as qualified as Ashish Jha. Whether he’s on “Sesame Street” or Fox News, the Brown University public health school dean is a pitch-perfect pandemic adviser: clear, affable, and panic-averse. But the scope of his next job — steering the sprawling federal pandemic response — has some experts wondering whether someone with so little experience in government, policy, or logistics can rise to the task. (Facher and Garde, 3/18)