Administration News U.S. backs proposal to waive COVID-19 vaccine patent rights U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai announced the Biden-Harris Administration support of waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines, noting “This is a global health crisis, and the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic call for extraordinary measures.” Tai committed that the U.S. would engage…

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Administration News Biden administration releases preview of FY22 budget request On April 9, the Biden Administration released a preview of its Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 discretionary budget request–the traditional first step in the budget process that enables lawmakers to begin drafting their annual appropriations bills. The discretionary budget includes a historic increase of the International…

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Administration News Gayle Smith to lead COVID-19 and global health security at State Department On April 5, Secretary of State Antony Blinken named Gayle E. Smith as Coordinator for Global COVID Response & Health Security at the U.S. State Department. Gayle Smith, currently President and CEO of ONE Campaign, will be on temporary assignment to…

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Congressional News American Rescue Plan includes emergency global health funding On March 11, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan COVID-19 relief bill into law. The final bill includes significant funding for the U.S. global response to the pandemic. A few highlights include: $3.09 billion for USAID to prevent, detect and respond to…

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Congressional News COVID-19 emergency funds progressing through budget reconciliation After passing a budget resolution for fiscal year (FY) 2021, Congress has continued to progress toward passing President Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief proposal. Authorizing committees in the House have been marking up their individual bills. The House Committee on the Budget plans to mark up the…

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Congressional News The Honorable Barbara Lee to serve as House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee Chair for State and Foreign Operations Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) was announced as House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee Chair for State and Foreign Operations. Chairwoman Lee has a long history of engaging on global health issues, particularly HIV/AIDS, promoting the Sustainable Development Goals,…

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Administration News Executive Order on Ensuring Access to USG COVID-19 Vaccines On December 8, President Trump issued an Executive Order (EO) that ensures Americans have priority access to COVID-19 vaccines developed in the United States or procured by the United States government. The EO does not go into detail about the U.S. government’s vaccine distribution…

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Congressional News Appropriations negotiations continue House and Senate appropriators have spent recent days negotiating topline spending levels for all twelve FY21 spending bills and will likely push for an omnibus to pass them as a larger package. COVID-19 emergency supplemental negotiations are also still crawling along, albeit barely. Recently Senator Portman said he is working…

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Administration News HHS released National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2020-2025 The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, 2020-2025, based on the 2014 strategy and the first National Action Plan that was released in 2015. The latest plan was led by the Assistant Secretary…

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Administration News USG released Strengthening Health Security Across the Globe report On September 30, the United States government (USG) released its whole-of-government report demonstrating the determination of the U.S. to continue to advance health security at home and abroad. This annual report highlights the USG’s contributions to the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) and to…

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