Members of Congress review plans for response to future pandemics, threats with health officials

WASHINGTON — The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in the U.S. public health system, including gaps in readiness, coordination and trust between the government and the public.

On Thursday, members of U.S. Congress heard from federal agencies about lessons learned during the pandemic and what the federal government can do to ensure they’re better prepared for future crises.

In the nearly five years since the pandemic, one of the greatest public health emergencies of this generation is still being felt when it comes to recovery and impacts, but there are other ongoing threats to public health as well, such as bird flu or Ebola.

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“We’re seeing more infectious disease threats than ever before,” officials told lawmakers on Thursday.

Still, some lawmakers remain critical of the COVID-19 response, pointing to a lack of oversight of taxpayer money for programs meant to respond to the pandemic. They’re calling for more oversight.

“To be successful in the next pandemic, our federal public health institutions must be accountable to the people again,” Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) said.

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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it has improved its operations and communications in the wake of the pandemic and says it’s working to develop stronger partnerships across the health industry to improve public trust.

The National Institutes of Health said it has a pandemic preparedness plan in place to be ready for future threats as well.

But health experts told Congress that in order to continue to be successful, the agencies must have enough resources. Funding was temporarily boosted during the pandemic.

“Without authorities to sustain our workforce for the next emerging threat, we’ll be back where we started before COVID,” Dr. Henry Walke, CDC, said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking for more power to oversee supply chain issues for critical medical supplies and wants reporting requirement from manufacturers to better identify drug shortages.

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