Feds announce $2.5 billion in grants to public health departments to promote health equity

The Biden administration announced this month that billions of dollars in federal money will be used to help communities hardest hit by the pandemic, including $2.25 billion in grants for public health departments to promote health equity (Source: “White House Sets Aside Billions for Health Equity,” WebMD, March 17).

The funding, which will be distributed as grants averaging $20 million, will improve testing and contact tracing, along with prevention strategies, according to CDC officials.

In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services signed a $150 million agreement today to help vulnerable areas get better access to monoclonal antibody therapy -- lab-made proteins that mimic an immune response and have been shown to prevent severe illness in COVID-19 patients. This may include more staff and equipment needed to administer the antibodies via IV, said Marcela Nunez-Smith, MD, the White House COVID-19 equity task force chair.