HHS closes long COVID-19 office

Health and Human Services is closing its Office of Long COVID Research and Practice as part of its reorganization, despite a study showing 23% of people with COVID-19 develop long COVID. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is cutting $11.4 billion in COVID-19 funding to state and local public health departments, nongovernment organizations and international recipients. The funds were being used mainly for COVID-19 testing, vaccination, community health workers and initiatives to address COVID-19 health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations, as well as global COVID-19 projects. The CDC reports hundreds of people continue to die every week from COVID-19. The funding also provides critical funding to chronically underfunded public health departments, allowing them to respond to outbreaks and provide immunizations. (MedPage Today article, 3/25/25)