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With a third of the nation now living in areas of , White House officials are warning of stalled progress in access to vaccines, treatments, and testing without Congressional funding.

Developers are already planning potential vaccines for the fall, but the U.S. government has yet to start negotiating to secure supplies, said new White House COVID Response Coordinator, Ashish Jha, MD. "Without additional funding from Congress, we will not be able to buy enough vaccines for every American who wants one."

In the fall and winter, "Americans can look around and see their friends in other countries in Europe and Canada with access to these treatments that Americans will not have," he warned.

Despite the government's efforts to help stabilize the testing supply, some testing manufacturers are already beginning to , he said.

"We're going to see them sell off their equipment and get out of this business," Jha said, which will mean relying on foreign manufacturers moving forward.

"All of this is incredibly preventable," he said, noting that he was working with members of Congress on Wednesday morning to persuade them of the need to act. Jha said he remains "very, very confident" that they will intervene and support the White House's .

Boosters, Paxlovid

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, zeroed in on the need for more older adults to get boosters. Across those ages 50 to 64, approximately 62% have not gotten a COVID vaccine in the last 6 months; 57% of those 65 and older have not been vaccinated in the same period, she said.

"So whether it's your first booster or your second, if you haven't had a vaccine dose since the beginning of December 2021 and you're eligible, now is the time to get one," she said, as that extra dose may help to increase protection against infection, urgent care visits, "and especially hospitalization and death."

Asked whether those under age 50 will be eligible for a booster, Walensky noted that any change in eligibility will require action from the FDA, "and we're in conversations there."

In terms of COVID treatment, Jha noted that because nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) was in short supply initially, some physicians are stuck in a "scarcity mindset," but the agent is more readily available now. Jha explained that "under normal circumstances, it would take years to get doctors to change their practice patterns in substantial ways, but we don't have years for this." As a result, the White House has conducted significant understand the eligibility criteria of these therapeutics, and has stressed that "supplies are adequate," he said.

Over the last month, nirmatrelvir/ritonavir use increased fourfold, with current prescriptions standing at 20,000 per day after the White House made it possible for pharmacies to directly order the treatment and expanded test-to-treat sites, Jha said.

Asked about cases of COVID rebound after nirmatrelvir/ritonavir, and whether the course of treatment should be extended, Anthony Fauci, MD, chief medical advisor to President Biden, said that the NIH and developer Pfizer are currently discussing what new studies to undertake and will be meeting "in the next few days."

State of the Pandemic

Walensky shared that COVID cases are averaging roughly 94,000 per day, based on weekly averages, with approximately 3,000 hospitalizations and 275 deaths per day as well. Cases have increased about 26% over the previous week, and hospital admissions have climbed 19% over the week prior, she said.

Walensky added that while the daily death toll is low, "nearly 300 deaths a day is still far too many."

She noted that case counts have risen in some communities in the Northeast and Upper Midwest, and currently more than 32% of Americans live in a part of the country characterized as having a high or medium COVID-19 community level, which is 8% more than the previous week.

For those in communities labeled as "high," local leaders need "to encourage the use of prevention strategies like masking in public indoor settings and increasing access to testing and treatment for individuals," she stressed.

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