Why Biden's strategy to prepare U.S. for future pandemics is 'underwhelming'


Earlier this month, the White House unveiled a new strategy aimed at preparing for future pandemics. The plan costs $65 billion over the next 10 years, and allocates a significant portion of those funds to developing technology that can quickly produce vaccines, antiviral drugs, and diagnostic tests.
It sounds like a promising start, but some experts aren't all that excited about it. "It's underwhelming," Mike Osterholm, an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota, told The Atlantic's Ed Yong. "That $65 billion should have been a down payment, not the entire program. It's a rounding error for our federal budget, and yet our entire existence going forward depends on this."
Meanwhile, Alexandra Phelan, an expert on international law and global health policy at Georgetown University, told Yong that it's the way the funds are distributed that's concerning. "We're so focused on these high-tech solutions because they appear to be what a high-income country would do," she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Instead, Yong writes, there's a case to be made that turning America's public health sector into a much more robust operation is just as essential as gearing up to produce vaccines. That means giving communities more money to hire and train more workers and improve their workplace infrastructure; it's not enough to simply react to emergencies in the future. Finally, there likely needs to be a greater effort to address the issues that make certain communities more vulnerable to public health crises than others — that could include increased paid sick leave, safe public housing, and food assistance, Yong writes.
For what it's worth, Eric Lander, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy and Biden's science adviser, agrees that the $65 billion plan isn't enough. "Nobody should read that plan as the limit of what needs to be done," he told Yong. "I have no disagreement that a major effort and very substantial funding are needed." Read more at The Atlantic.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
New FDA chiefs limit Covid-19 shots to elderly, sick
speed read The FDA set stricter approval standards for booster shots
-
A tick-borne illness is making its rounds in new parts of America
Under the radar Babesiosis, spread through blacklegged or deer tick bites, is a growing risk
-
US overdose deaths plunged 27% last year
speed read Drug overdose still 'remains the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18-44,' said the CDC
-
Trump seeks to cut drug prices via executive order
speed read The president's order tells pharmaceutical companies to lower prescription drug prices, but it will likely be thrown out by the courts
-
RFK Jr.: A new plan for sabotaging vaccines
Feature The Health Secretary announced changes to vaccine testing and asks Americans to 'do your own research'
-
Hantavirus: the rare pathogen linked to rodents that attacks the lungs
The Explainer Despite the low risk of contracting it, the virus could be potentially deadly
-
RFK Jr. visits Texas as 2nd child dies from measles
Speed Read An outbreak of the vaccine-preventable disease continues to grow following a decade of no recorded US measles deaths
-
What does Health and Human Services do?
The Explainer Cuts will 'dramatically alter' public health in America