On May 11, the Biden administration is ending the public health emergency that gave everyone, insured or not, access to free testing and vaccines for COVID-19. They said it’s because cases have decreased by 80 percent, but the United States has reported the highest death toll of any country at 1.1 million. Are we really in the clear? And, what does it mean now that we’re no longer in a public health emergency? Dr. Esther Chernak is the Director of the Center for Public Health Readiness and Communication at Drexel University. She tells us why she believes this decision will negatively impact public perception of the pandemic, and what it tells us about health care in the United States. 

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