The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) announced on Tuesday that the federally declared public health emergency for COVID-19 will expire on Thursday.
Case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths from COVID-19 are significantly lower now than during surges of the virus. ADPH will continue providing COVID-19 testing and vaccines for uninsured/underinsured people at the local county health departments even after the public health emergency ends.
Even though the emergency is no longer in effect, COVID-19 remains a clear and present danger.
“Although the COVID-19 pandemic is entering a new phase, the disease is still causing suffering and death in Alabama,” State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said. “ADPH is committed to monitoring the effects of this virus in Alabama and will continue to provide data that is accurate and actionable.”
For the past three years, ADPH has had access to a large amount of COVID-19 data, some of which had been required to be submitted to the federal government. As these requirements transition, COVID-19 will continue to be reportable in Alabama, but some data will no longer be available.
The current COVID-19 dashboards will be modified to use the available data and to better align with data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The current Alabama COVID-19 dashboards will update for a final time this week and be available for archive purposes for an unspecified amount of time.
ADPH will continue to publish hospital admission data and COVID-19 death data which will be updated, but its reporting frequency will change.
Vaccine administration reporting will not be reported as ADPH will no longer receive data from vaccine providers.
ADPH continues to recommend the Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccines.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has simplified its COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. Among the recommendations are that adults ages 65 and older and immunocompromised adults can receive a second dose of the updated vaccine. The CDC recommends that children ages six and older and adults receive an updated bivalent mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, regardless of whether they previously completed their (monovalent) primary series.
Alternatives to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines remain available for people who cannot or will not receive an mRNA vaccine.
The federal supply of COVID-19 vaccine will be available at no charge until the current supply is exhausted. After this supply of COVID-19 vaccine has been depleted, the vaccine will be sold commercially.
People with public or private insurance will continue to be able to access authorized COVID-19 vaccines. For the uninsured, the federal government has announced it will fund a program to keep COVID-19 vaccines free after the vaccines move to the private market. A new partnership will cover the administrative costs of giving doses of vaccines at pharmacy chains and county health departments to uninsured people.
Some doctors remain skeptical of the effectiveness and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, which use experimental mRNA technology.
The end of the public health emergency also means there will be changes in the availability of free COVID-19 tests. People covered by Medicaid can access free at-home tests through September 2024.
The ADPH will continue to monitor COVID-19 as it regularly monitors other respiratory diseases and will respond to any future surges or developments.
COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus – a type of coronavirus.
1,162,474 Americans have died, including 21,137 Alabamians, in the COVID-19 global pandemic. 107 million Americans contracted the virus despite efforts to limit the spread of the virus.
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