The White House said that the U.S. was currently not prepared to face future pandemics after COVID-19 as President Joe Biden's top science advisor laid out a new $65 billion plan to get the nation ready.
Dr. Eric Lander, the White House director of Science & Technology Policy, said the U.S. needed to invest into the new plan as biological threats are expected to occur 'at an increasing frequency,' during a teleconference on Friday.
The plan focused on funding critical developments, such as vaccines, diagnostics, early warning systems and disease surveillance, as well as strengthening the nation's health system and global pandemic preparedness model.
'We need better capabilities because there is a reasonable likelihood that another serious pandemic that could be worse than COVID-19 will occur soon, possibly even within the next decade,' Lander said.
Eric Lander, the White House director of Science & Technology Policy, outlined President Joe Biden's administration's plan to combat future pandemic, saying the U.S. is not prepared
The White House's $65 plan focuses on virus study and detection and funding vaccination research, manufacturing and distribution. Pictured, a researched at the University of Pittsburgh beginning to work on COVID-19 vaccine research on March 28, 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic left hospitals across the U.S. overflowing with patients. Pictured, an overcrowded hospital emergency room in Houston, Texas
'And the next pandemic will very likely be substantially different than COVID-19. So, we must be prepared to deal with any type of viral threat.'
In the 27 page document titled, American Pandemic Preparedness: Transforming Our Capabilities, Lander also called to enhance the nation's real-time monitoring capabilities and make upgrades to personal protective equipment that could be used against a wide range of viruses.
The plan also proposed $15 billion to $20 billion in funding to jump-start the initiative and create a new 'mission control' office at the Department of Health and Human Services, which would be overseen by Congress.
The bulk of the plan focuses on spending a total of $24.2 billion to develop and test new vaccines for a range of viruses and make improvements to vaccine distribution and manufacturing efforts.
Another $11.8 billion would be spent on therapeutics, which would allow U.S. scientists to develop new antiviral drugs and ensure large-scale manufacturing capacity for antibody treatments.
Lander said that the COVID-19 pandemic had also exposed 'fundamental issues' with America's public health system and pandemic preparedness.
