WASHINGTON — Bernie Sanders is pushing for a long Covid “moonshot.” He released a draft legislative proposal this week, a follow up to a milestone hearing in January that sounded the alarm on long Covid as a pressing public health crisis.
The pitch calls for $10 billion in mandatory funding over the next decade to establish a new long Covid research program at the National Institutes of Health. This money — $1 billion per year — would be in addition to, and more secure than, the funding recently set aside to continue the RECOVER trial. While the proposal is still in its early stages in the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions which the Vermont senator chairs, it could give long Covid researchers more runway to find much-needed therapies. Part of the plan would help fast-track treatment trials.
A recent analysis of survey data found that 3 in 10 U.S. adults said they had symptoms of Covid that lasted longer than 3 months. About 1 in 10 said they still had those symptoms. That’s about 17 million people currently dealing with issues like brain fog or intense fatigue, which can interfere with their life and involvement in the workforce. About 25% of people with long Covid said the condition limits their activities “a lot,” according to the KFF report.
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