White House begs Congress for Covid funding amid concern about Omicron sister variant

The White House is begging Congress for more funds to help with Covid-19 surveillance, testing, and treatments — a call that could be bolstered by emerging signs of an increase…

WASHINGTON — The White House is begging Congress for more funds to help with Covid-19 surveillance, testing, and treatments — a call that could be bolstered by the emerging signs of an increase in Covid-19 cases in Europe.

After lawmakers’ plan to provide $22.5 billion in Covid-19 funding imploded last week over disagreements about how the new spending should be paid for, the White House has been faced with cutting back on its pandemic response activities because its budget is nearly exhausted. It’s unclear whether additional funding is on the way.

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