With the anticipated end of the public health emergency looming after three years of being consumed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Xavier Becerra, secretary of the U.S. Health and Human Services (HSS), wrote a letter to state governors praising their efforts in the pandemic, offering a supportive hand, and highlighting the Biden-Harris administration’s accomplishments in combating COVID-19.

“We have come to this point in our fight against the virus because of our historic investments and efforts to mitigate its worst impacts,” Becerra said. “We will transition our COVID-19 policies, as well as the current flexibilities enabled by the COVID-19 emergency declarations, into improving standards of care for patients. My team throughout the entire department and I are eager to partner with you to ensure this process is as seamless as possible.”

Becerra said that the administration’s “whole-of-government approach” enabled the United States’ transition from the emergency phase.

“Over the past two years, the Biden-Harris administration has effectively implemented the largest adult vaccination program in U.S. history, with nearly 270 million Americans receiving at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine,” Becerra said. That and other efforts resulted in:

  • A 92% decrease in daily COVID-19 reported cases
  • An 80% decrease in both COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths

Hear oncology nurses’ voices from the frontlines of that work in the Reflections on COVID-19 and Cancer Care: Stories by Oncology Nurses audiobook or volume 1 and volume 2 of the printed edition.