COVID isn't going to disappearĪll this progress doesn't mean COVID-19 is going away. 'I am here, and when I have something to announce about my future plans, I will be happy to share it,' Jha said.

He's still the COVID-19 coordinator, he said. Jha didn't elaborate on his future plans, as the White House's COVID-19 team winds down. Jha is still the COVID-19 coordinator, for now Still, the federal government is closely monitoring all areas of the globe for new strains. Right now, Jha said most cases are the XBB variant of Omicron. The COVID-19 coordinator said the virus continues to evolve at the pace it has before.

Jha said the Centers for Disease Control will continue to track emerging variants. Should you be concerned about new COVID variants? 'Considering the progress that we have made, and based on the latest guidance from our public health experts, I have determined that we no longer need the international air travel restrictions that I imposed in October 2021,' Mr. That executive order is also effective Thursday. The president on Tuesday issued an executive order ending the vaccine requirement for international travelers flying into the U.S. The president on Tuesday issued an executive order ending the vaccine requirement for such workers as of May 12, saying, 'we no longer need a government-wide vaccination requirement for federal employees or federally specified safety protocols for federal contractors.' No more COVID vaccine requirements for international travelers No more COVID vaccine requirements for federal workersįederal workers and contractors will no longer need to be vaccinated against the virus or obtain an approved exemption.

COVID-19 vaccines and treatments could go to private market this summer, White House official says.

Pricing negotiations will largely be directly between Health and Human Services and Pfizer, the maker of Paxlovid. Eventually, patients will pay for the drug through their insurance as a Medicare Part D drug.

continues to have a significant supply of Paxlovid, the antiviral that has proven effective in preventing severe disease and death for high-risk patients. 'And from a very large-scale kind of cohort data that shows that if you're up to date on your vaccines and you get treated, death numbers are exceedingly low in the population.' PaxlovidĪ White House official said the U.S. 'And that's from very clear data that we have looked at of who's dying, what their vaccine status is, what their treatment status is,' Jha said.

More happy than not ending