When asked by a reporter earlier this week about future COVID funding for vaccinating small children, President Biden acknowledged "we do need more money."
"But we don't just need more money for vaccines for children, eventually; we need more money to plan for the second pandemic," the chief executive continued. "There's going to be another pandemic. We have to think ahead – and that's not something the last outfit did very well. That's something we've been doing fairly well. That's why we need the money."
Twila Brase, RN and president/co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom, points out Congress already passed measures having to do with coronavirus relief.
"There are a lot of states that still have a lot of money from those bills," says Brase. "The money has not all been used up. So, I do not believe that the president should advocate for anything that is going to tax the American people further for something coming in the future when they haven't yet even used up all the money that they have today for the current pandemic."
Brase contends the American people are being pressed on every side economically – partly because of how poorly the COVID pandemic was handled.
"[For example] the lockdowns, the shutdowns, the loss of businesses, the loss of jobs, the vaccine mandates, the terminations," says Brase. "Here, we have a president who says he wants to charge us even more to get ready for the next pandemic, which assumes that he is probably thinking of having more lockdowns in the future."
According to Brase, that's unwise as well as "not right-thinking."
"What president needs to be doing is figuring out how he's going to get more money back to the American people in lower expenses and a better economy rather than higher taxes," she argues.
About that 'second pandemic'
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization may be tracking with the president's warning about a second pandemic. WHO convened an emergency committee meeting in London today to consider if the "spiraling" outbreak of monkeypox warrants it being declared a global emergency, possibly requiring a global response.
According to The Associated Press, that would give monkeypox "the same distinction as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing effort to eradicate polio."
The AP report notes more than 3,300 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in 42 countries where that virus hasn't typically been seen. More than 80% of those cases are in Europe. More than 1,400 cases have been seen already this year in Africa, including 62 deaths.
