By: Lee Savio Beers, MD, FAAP, President, American Academy of Pediatrics
“The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) urges the U.S. House of Representatives to pass its COVID-19 relief bill, the American Rescue Plan, as quickly as possible. As we approach one year of the pandemic, children and families need urgent relief and this bill includes protections that will help achieve it.
“First, the package includes $1 billion in needed funding to strengthen vaccine confidence and improve vaccination rates for both COVID-19 and other vaccine-preventable diseases. This includes funding to implement the VACCINES Act, a bill AAP has long championed, which would support research to better understand vaccine hesitancy and spread public awareness of the importance of vaccines. At a time when pediatricians are seeing alarming decreases in routine childhood immunizations, and as we look toward a future of an eventual pediatric COVID-19 vaccine, now is exactly the right moment to be shoring up confidence in vaccines.
“The American Rescue Plan also provides needed financial resources to schools to ensure they can implement the safety measures they need to reopen safely, a goal AAP has been encouraging from the beginning of the pandemic. The package gives states flexibility to quickly extend Medicaid coverage for pregnant people until 12 months after the end of pregnancy, a change that will help end preventable maternal deaths and reduce inequities.
“The pandemic is global in nature, and the package also includes needed support for the international health and humanitarian response to COVID-19 and to build the capacity required to fight COVID-19, its variants, and emerging biological threats.
“And finally, the bill expands funding for nutrition assistance and mental health while also taking important steps to reduce child poverty. The bill achieves this through improvements to the Child Tax Credit and the economic stimulus relief that will reach more children, including children in immigrant families. At a time when food insecurity rates are skyrocketing and families are struggling to make ends meet, the additional relief in this bill couldn’t come soon enough.
“I am hopeful this bill will advance through both chambers of Congress without delay so these important protections can be felt by children and families as quickly as possible.”
##
The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults. For more information, visit www.aap.org.