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Biden administration estimates almost $7 billion needed to fight against monkeypox outbreak

Healthcare workers with New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene help people register for the monkeypox vaccine at one of the City's vaccination sites, Tuesday, July 26, 2022, in New York. The World Health Organization recently declared that the expanding monkeypox outbreak is a global emergency. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

The Biden administration privately gave Congress an estimate this month on how much it would take to combat the monkeypox outbreak in the U.S., to match “the scope and urgency of the current situation.”

As the Washington Post reported, that estimate was reportedly set at nearly $7 billion.

The estimate was detailed in a memo addressed to President Biden and obtained by the Post, according to a report.

While not a formal request for Congressional aid, it was presented by White House aides at the request of Democratic leaders on a Senate health committee. A Democratic aide confirmed details in the memo.

On Saturday, the World Health Organization’s Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared monkeypox a global emergency, the Associated Press reported.

“We have an outbreak that has spread around the world rapidly through new modes of transmission, about which we understand too little,” Tedros said. “I know this has not been an easy or straightforward process and that there are divergent views.”

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