ATLANTA – State Representative Mesha Mainor (D-Atlanta) today issued the following statement regarding the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response plan:
“It is important to keep the most vulnerable aware of the logistics regarding COVID-19 vaccination deployment. To date, our state has a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine, but I am pleased to hear about the new rollout announced by the Biden administration last week. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced its efforts to expand COVID-19 testing opportunities for K-8 schools and underserved congregate settings, such as homeless shelters, directly through new coordination ‘hubs.’ The HHS has formed several key partnerships to combat COVID-19 across the United States.
“I also appreciate the HHS’s plan to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) which includes a $650 million investment to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This partnership also includes working with laboratories, including universities, to collect specimens, perform the tests and report results to the relevant public health agencies for up to 25 million additional tests per month. This effort will bring more testing to teachers, staff and students, which is an important step to support President Biden’s plan to reopen schools for in-person learning.
“Further, the plan includes increasing domestic manufacturing of tests and testing supplies to address testing shortages. The HHS and DOD will make an $815 million investment to increase domestic manufacturing of testing supplies and raw materials, including filter pipette tips, nitrocellulose used in antigen point-of-care tests and specific injected molded plastics needed to house testing reagents.
“Through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Biden administration will also increase genomic sequencing of the virus to better prepare for the threat of variants and slow the spread of the disease. The CDC will invest nearly $200 million to expand genomic sequencing capabilities, including bioinformatics, reporting and modeling, to increase sequencing three-fold per week.”
To read the 200-page report released by the HHS Acting Secretary Norris Cochran, please click here.
Representative Mesha Mainor represents the citizens on District 56, which includes portions of Fulton County. She was elected to the House of Representatives in 2020 and currently serves on the Education, Governmental Affairs and State Planning & Community Affairs committees.
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