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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
The White House says it's running out of money to cover COVID tests and vaccines2
Next week, the White House says it will start to wind down a COVID-19 program that pays to test, treat and vaccinate4 people who don't have health insurance.
It's one of several immediate5 impacts after Congress declined to add $22.5 billion in funding to a broad government spending bill passed last week. President Biden signed the bill into law on Tuesday, hailing it as a bipartisan achievement without mentioning the lack of COVID-19 funding.
The COVID-19 funding request met with political pushback from Republicans and concern among some lawmakers that the White House has not fully6 explained how trillions in COVID money has been spent so far and what funding remains7. Republicans in particular have been unwilling8 to agree to new spending.
The White House warned in a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday that the country risks being "blindsided" by future coronavirus variants10.
"What we're asking for is a modest investment to not squander11 the gains we've made over the last year," said Natalie Quillian, deputy coordinator12 for the White House COVID-19 response team.
"We need to remember the dark days and how quickly a variant9 can come," Quillian told NPR.
Why Congress left out the funding
Leaders from both parties had initially13 agreed to include roughly $15 billion in COVID-related funding as part of the more than $1.5 trillion government spending package that Congress passed last week.
Republican leaders agreed to support the emergency spending because Democrats14 chose to cover some of the cost by reallocating money Congress had already approved but has not yet been spent.
A number of House Democrats objected to that plan because as many as 30 states would lose access to money that was promised but had not yet been spent, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was forced to removed that funding from the broader package.
Democrats say they will try to pass a standalone COVID-19 funding bill in the coming days, but Republicans broadly oppose the plan, meaning there is little chance the measure can overcome a GOP filibuster15 in the Senate.
The White House will cancel a new order for monoclonal antibodies
The White House said it will have to cut back shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments to states by 30% next week because of the funding snafu, and said the nation's supply of those treatments could run out as soon as May.
The Biden administration is canceling plans to buy more of the treatment next week because of the lack of funding. The government also cannot buy more oral antiviral treatments like Paxlovid beyond the 20 million treatments already secured, and needs to scale back planned purchases of preventive treatments for immunocompromised people, the White House said.
We need to remember the dark days and how quickly a variant can come.
Natalie Quillian, White House COVID response team
And while officials say they do have enough vaccine1 doses available for immunocompromised people to get a fourth dose, if the rest of the population ends up needing an additional dose, they may not have the funds needed to meet the nation's needs. The gap in funding would be particularly severe if a vaccine-evading variant comes along and a new formulation is needed.
The White House also said it will not be able to provide help to domestic manufacturers of at-home coronavirus tests beyond June, which it said will lead to diminished testing capacity.
Research into next-generation COVID-19 vaccines will be curbed16, and some surveillance for new variants will also be stopped, the White House said. The administration also will need to limit its push to help poorer countries vaccinate people.
Republicans want the White House to account for past COVID aid spending
Republicans want the White House to provide a more detailed17 accounting18 of exactly how the government has spent the roughly $6 trillion in COVID-19 funding that Congress has already approved. Lawmakers and staff say they have not been given any clear accounting of the funds.
Earlier this month Sen. Mitt19 Romney, R-Utah, sent Biden a letter with specific questions including how much money has been spent on each testing and vaccine program, specific figures on how much of the previously20 allocated21 money is unspent, unobligated or undisbursed, and how much has been obligated but not sent out for more than six months.
So far, Romney and at least half a dozen other top Senate Republicans said they have not received full responses to their questions.
"I fully agree we need additional funding for therapeutics, for being ready for what's coming down the road with regards to testing and so forth22, but the Democrats passed, by themselves, $1.9 trillion in March," Romney said. "And not all of that money has been spent."
Others, like Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., said Congress has a responsibility to conduct oversight23 on the money that has already been spent.
"Tracing back and making sure that COVID dollars were spent in a responsible way — in a way that was truly directed toward dealing24 with the effects of the pandemic — is absolutely something we need to do as part of our oversight responsibility," Thune said.
Romney and several other Republicans said there was an agreement to pass the funds during the spending negotiations25 and Democrats walked away, not Republicans.
![收听单词发音](/images/play.gif)
1
vaccine
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n.牛痘苗,疫苗;adj.牛痘的,疫苗的 | |
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2
vaccines
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疫苗,痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 ) | |
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3
transcript
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n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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4
vaccinate
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vt.给…接种疫苗;种牛痘 | |
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5
immediate
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adj.立即的;直接的,最接近的;紧靠的 | |
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6
fully
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adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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7
remains
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n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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8
unwilling
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adj.不情愿的 | |
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9
variant
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adj.不同的,变异的;n.变体,异体 | |
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10
variants
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n.变体( variant的名词复数 );变种;变型;(词等的)变体 | |
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11
squander
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v.浪费,挥霍 | |
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12
coordinator
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n.协调人 | |
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13
initially
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adv.最初,开始 | |
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14
democrats
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n.民主主义者,民主人士( democrat的名词复数 ) | |
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15
filibuster
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n.妨碍议事,阻挠;v.阻挠 | |
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16
curbed
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v.限制,克制,抑制( curb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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17
detailed
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adj.详细的,详尽的,极注意细节的,完全的 | |
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18
accounting
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n.会计,会计学,借贷对照表 | |
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mitt
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n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手 | |
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20
previously
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adv.以前,先前(地) | |
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21
allocated
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adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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22
forth
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adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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23
oversight
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n.勘漏,失察,疏忽 | |
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24
dealing
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n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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25
negotiations
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协商( negotiation的名词复数 ); 谈判; 完成(难事); 通过 | |
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