PRESIDENT BIDEN ENDS NATIONAL COVID EMERGENCY

At the beginning of 2023, President Joe Biden announced that the COVID national and public health emergencies in the United States would come to an end by May 11. The status actually changed about a month earlier, on April 10.

During the height of the pandemic, millions of Americans were insured by the federal government, allowing them to receive free COVID testing and later, free vaccines in the fight against the virus.

To date, members of Congress in the House and in the Senate have legislated to end these emergency declarations.

The Biden administration extended the national and public health emergencies several times since taking office in 2021.

The first public health emergency due to COVID was declared by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar under former President Donald Trump, January 31, 2020. Trump declared the pandemic a national emergency in March 2020.

The end of the twin emergency policies means the widespread end of:

1. Free COVID testing;

2. Free COVID vaccines;

3. Development of vaccines and treatments away from management by the federal government.

Cases of COVID illnesses and deaths still continue. According to the World Health Organization, (WHO), in the United States, from 3 January 2020 to 6:03am CEST, 24 May 2023, there have been:

1. 103,436,829 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with

2. 1,127,152 deaths, reported to WHO.

3. As of 5 May 2023, a total of 668,168,096 vaccine doses have been administered. t

Data gathered from the World Health Organization, along with White House press conference report summaries from the Associated Press and CNN, January, April and May 2023.

Richard Barron and Vivian Barron were a husband-wife team who supported the gospel commission in many fields. Upon graduation from Oakwood, the Barrons began a ministerial career that spanned 60 years which included pastoral, administrative, and chaplaincy. After retiring from the General Conference in 2003, Elder Barron became the Assistant to the President at Advent Health Sebring. He had a special place in his heart for the youth, and was known as the “Youth’s Friend.” How appropriate that he and his wife, a nurse by profession, included Oakwood University Religion and Nursing Departments in their trust for educational pursuits of young people.

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