In late March, the Trump administration suddenly pulled $11.4 billion in remaining COVID-19 response funds — which were going to state and local governments to help monitor and prevent a variety of diseases.
That complicated local efforts to immunize kids.
The California Department of Public Health estimates that the lost federal funds will total at least $840 million in the state.
Those cuts hit vaccine programs — covering measles, whooping cough and others in addition to COVID-19 — for hard-to-reach, low-income residents on Medi-Cal. The funds were set to expire at the end of 2026.
“Health departments are often starved for resources,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Center for Health Security at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “When they get resources, those resources are somewhat flexible in terms of what they’re used for. So many of the things that are under the name of COVID are really under public health preparedness in general.”
The U.S. Health and Human Services Department said in an emailed statement that, “The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago.”
But Adalja said these funding cuts could lead to worsening outbreaks of other diseases, like the measles — the U.S. Centers for Disease Control says there were over 600 cases as of April 3rd.
“If there are lapses in funding or concerns about being able to fund these positions or people to be paid for this type of work, it’s going to hamper their ability to do that work,” he said.
A week after the funding cuts, California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that the state and 22 others sued the Trump administration, and secured a temporary restraining order from a judge.
While that means states will have access to the money again, public health officials say it’s unclear how that will work, or for how long.
Ranjila Singh is a medical assistant at a pediatrician’s office in Sacramento. Part of her job is to give children vaccines. On a recent morning, she gave several to a baby while his grandmother held him.
“We’re going to do the oral one first, ok?” she told them before squirting the liquid into the baby’s mouth as he cooed.
“Is it cold? Good job! Very good!”
Pediatrician Dr. Beatrice Tetteh heads the clinic — which contracts with the county and area schools to vaccinate kids with the funds.
Tetteh said they were still helping families catch up on a lot from the pandemic.
“We had families that stopped going to the doctor during COVID, and they’re just slowly coming back,” she said. “We have vaccines that weren’t given during the pandemic.”
A week before CapRadio spoke with Tetteh, she had heard mid-day that the county was ending her contract immediately.
“It was a hard position to be in because I thought, okay, I’m supposed to stop, but I’m literally in the middle of it. We already had a child on their way,” she said. “So I said, well, we’re going to make sure they get their vaccine for school.”
She added her clinic is eating the cost of some vaccines, including that one.
“To have that opportunity taken away, it’s frustrating because it feels like the adults are failing the kids,” she said.
Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye said Sacramento County lost about $26 million with the federal cuts — which helped cover the vaccines for school districts across the county and other work.
Tetteh’s practice was one of four contractors. Kasirye said the county currently has limited data, but shared that one provider administered more than 3,000 vaccinations over eight months, averaging about 170 students per month.
Early in the week, her office warned clinics like Tetteh’s that their contracts might end. She tried to find money to make up for it elsewhere, but couldn’t.
“In public health, our heart is in serving the community, in serving those that are vulnerable,” She said. “So seeing some of these good programs come to an end, and abruptly at that, is hard to take.”
She said the county is still figuring out if the temporary restraining order realistically means they can bring back these programs.
Kasirye also said that before the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and the county struggled to meet demand for vaccines, especially in cases where families face scheduling challenges like parents’ work schedules that clash with clinic hours.
Sacramento City Unified School District declined an interview for this story. When asked about how the district will work with students still missing required vaccines, Spokesperson Al Goldberg said it will continue to provide a once-weekly clinic. He did not respond to a question about whether students would receive waivers or be prevented from attending school if they haven’t been vaccinated.
Megan Myscofski is a statehouse/politics reporter at CapRadio. CapRadio is a partner of The Intersection and CVJC.