White House COVID-19 Response Team to Be Dissolved in May

The White House COVID-19 response team will reportedly disband in May, with some staff members already departing. The public health emergency is also set to end the same month.

It was first reported by The Washington Post, with speculations that the team will be dissolved as President Joe Biden seeks to move forward as U.S. hospitals see a decrease in their COVID-19 patients.

In a statement sent to The Post, a senior administration official noted that it makes sense now to "shift out of emergency status."

The official said the administration's COVID-19 response had created a "safer, better place" compared to three years ago. Some experts also believe there are practical reasons for dissolving the team and lessening its response.

Bob Wachter, chair of the department of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, noted that there is a "war on cancer," but it does not require "a cancer czar."

However, Deborah Birx, the country's first coronavirus coordinator, believes it is too early to disband. Birx noted that the virus' evolution has allowed it to evade some treatments, leaving immunocompromised individuals with fewer protections.

White House COVID-19 Response Team

The speculation that the team will be dissolved comes as Republicans in Congress have introduced multiple investigations into the virus' origins.

Several House Republican lawmakers have pushed theories that the COVID-19 origins were from a lab leak in Wuhan, China, The Guardian reported.

President Joe Biden recently signed a bill into law that would require the release of intelligence on possible links between the outbreak of COVID-19 and the Wuhan lab.

Biden said his administration would continue to review all classified information about the COVID-19 origins, which included theories on the possible link to the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

By signing the bill, the Biden administration will be declassifying intelligence materials regarding the possible origins of COVID-19, making the information available to the public.

Some experts have concluded that COVID-19 most likely originated from an animal market in Wuhan.

Public Health Emergency Declaration Ending

The end of the public health emergency declaration would mean that coverage for millions of Americans would also end.

Jodie Guest, professor and vice chair of the department of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health, said the insurance and health care system is "pretty chaotic" and can be very costly, with the public seen to be going back to that.

With the end of the public health emergency declaration, the free at-home tests the government provides will likely go away. Medicaid will likely have free tests until 2024, while Medicare recipients will no longer receive at-home tests for free.

In addition, vaccine companies such as Pfizer and Moderna are already considering price hikes between $110 and $130, USA Today reported. It would also limit access to the few drugs available when treating COVID-19, such as the antiviral Paxlovid from Pfizer.

Many people will also lose access to telehealth once the declaration ends. Health experts said hospitals would also not get extra funding.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: White House to Disband COVID-19 Response Team - From WFAA