Public Health Experts Testifying Before Subcommittee On COVID Crisis Confirm Rep. Krishnamoorthi’s NOVID Act Global Vaccination Plan Would Save Lives, Reduce Inflation

WASHINGTON – In today's hearing of the Select Committee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, co-founder and co-chair of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus questioned leading public health experts on the urgency of vaccinating the entire world against COVID-19 and how his Nullifying Opportunities for Variants to Infect and Decimate (NOVID) Act would achieve that goal through ensuring the production and end-to-end distribution of billions of vaccines. During his questioning, the Congressman questioned Kathryn Russ, Ph.D., Professor of Economics at University of California, Davis on the economic impact of COVID-19 outbreaks on global supply chains. In response, Dr. Russ discussed how expanded global vaccination efforts would reduce supply chain delays, thus reducing inflation for American consumers. Congressman Krishnamoorthi also questioned Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, Associate Professor of Global Health and Medicine at Duke and Associate Director for Innovation, Duke Global Health Institute, on the danger of new and more transmissible variants, like Omicron, overloading American healthcare infrastructure. Confirming the risks of such systemic capacity shortages, Dr. Udayakumar also spoke in support of the effort by Congressman Krishnamoorthi and his colleagues to secure an additional $17 billion in increased funding for vaccines and vaccine delivery around the world.

"Our expert witnesses today confirmed again the urgency of major action to expand our global vaccination efforts in order to save lives, prevent even more dangerous variants from developing, and ultimately, to end the pandemic," said Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi. "As we heard in today's hearing, vaccinating the world can also help eliminate the major supply chain issues we have faced in recent months, reducing inflation and preventing future economic disruptions while saving lives. The urgency of vaccinating the world for the sake of our people and economy could not be more clear. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting the NOVID Act, as well as the inclusion of $17 billion in additional funding in our next government spending package."

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is one of the leading voices in Congress calling to expand the global access to COVID-19 vaccines. On June 8th, Congressman Krishnamoorthi introduced the NOVID Act, a detailed blueprint to invest $34 billion in global vaccine manufacturing and distribution to reach herd immunity in all 92 COVAX countries, with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). On August 4th, the above Members and Representative Malinowski penned a letter to President Biden, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with 116 Members of Congress requesting the NOVID Act provisions be included in any reconciliation package. On August 10th, 175 public health experts separately wrote to the President demanding that he act immediately to invest in global vaccination.

As founder and co-chair of the COVID-19 Global Vaccination Caucus, Congressman Krishnamoorthi championed the inclusion of $1.3 billion in the Build Back Better Act to support global and domestic vaccine production capacity and capabilities, including through the construction of new manufacturing facilities or the expansion or modernization of existing facilities. This funding can also be used to address supply chain issues pertaining to the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines.

To watch Congressman Krishnamoorthi's question line during the hearing, click here.