(MAY 10, 2023) With the COVID-19 public health emergency expiring on the national level, WCAX-TV interviewed Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of medicine, and Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy and professor of medicine, about what changes Vermonters can expect.
Mark Levine, M.D (left)., and Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H.,
(MAY 10, 2023) With the COVID-19 public health emergency expiring on the national level, WCAX-TV interviewed Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of medicine, and Jan Carney, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of public health and health policy and professor of medicine, about what changes Vermonters can expect.
“People who have insurance and want to obtain antigen tests for use at home may find that there’s now a cost associated with that. There’s also going to be implications with regard to treatments like Paxlovid,” Levine said. Certain pandemic-related provisions will take time to phase out, he added; for example, the federal government will continue to cover the cost of vaccines, and at-home tests will still be available at specific locations throughout the state.
Carney said the switch will impact how the virus is tracked, going from sustained emergency to long-term disease management. “You’ll notice likely differences in the CDC’s website and how they’re reporting it and more like other infections that might be reported as opposed to very specific, dedicated pages for that.”
Despite the end of COVID-19’s official designation as a public health emergency, Vermonters should still take precautions in certain situations, Levine advised.
A related story on the end of the COVID-19 Emergency Declarations appeared in Healthline.