Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., says President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is a definite “no” for her considering the measly amount set aside for vaccine distribution.
"It's not a hard no vote when only 10 percent of the dollars go to a vaccine and vaccine distribution," she told Politico Tuesday.
The legislation, which is set for a vote on the House floor at the end of the week, includes, among other items, another round of direct payments to Americans, $25 billion for emergency rental assistance, $10 billion for the Defense Production Act to offset shortages of medical supplies and equipment, expanded and extended federal unemployment benefits, new financial support for parents, expanded tax credits for low-income workers without children, changes to the Paycheck Protection Program, relief for restaurants and bars, grants for venues, $7.5 billion in funding for the CDC to track, administer and distribute COVID-19 vaccines and grants to state educational agencies and higher education institutions.
Biden has called the vaccine rollout a “dismal failure so far.”
His plan would allocate $8.75 billion to federal, state, local, territorial and tribal public-health agencies for distributing, administering and tracking vaccinations. Around $20 billion would be set aside for vaccine development, along with around $3 billion for a strategic national stockpile of vaccines. Another $25 billion would be for testing, contact tracing and reimbursing hospitals for lost revenue related to the pandemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that about 44.5 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including 19.9 million people who have been fully vaccinated.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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