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The White House on Friday launched its pandemic preparedness office, half a year after Congress instructed the administration to set up a new arm in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy is a now-permanent installment in Washington and will first be led by retired Major General Paul Friedrichs, a longtime biosecurity official. It comes roughly two months after the Covid-19 public health emergency ended and weeks after Covid-19 response coordinator Ashish Jha stepped down, reflecting an overall wind-down of the administration’s coronavirus efforts. (Owermohle, 7/21)

The White House had been expected to cut down its COVID response team after the U.S. government in May ended its COVID Public Health Emergency. Biden said in September last year he believed the coronavirus pandemic was over in the United States. In June, the White House announced the departure of Ashish Jha, the last of the Biden administration's rotating COVID response coordinators. (Singh, 7/21)

The next global pandemic could come from the United States. That's the sobering message of a report from Harvard Law School and New York University, examining how humans, livestock and wild animals interact here. (Weintraub, 7/22)

A top Food and Drug Administration official wants Congress to dedicate full-time staff to emerging pathogens, after the FDA scrambled to find people for Covid-19 priorities like Operation Warp Speed. “Vaccines were a pretty heavy duty lift during the pandemic,” said Peter Marks, director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, at a Thursday Politico event. “Rather than having to essentially reassign whole groups of people and disrupt things, the idea is to have a group of people who are constantly working on this.” (Bajaj, 7/21)

Though the nation's COVID-19 activity is still at very low levels, for the second week in a row early indicators such as emergency department (ED) visits and test-positivity rates show small rises, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in its latest data updates. Also today, the CDC updated its Omicron variant projections, showing more rises in newer versions such as EG.5 and XBB.1.16.6. And in another US development, the Biden administration today announced its pick to lead the new White House pandemic preparedness and response office. (Schnirring, 7/21)

Unsolicited COVID-19 tests are being sent to people with Medicare as part of a national scam. What should you do next and what resources are available? (Medina, 7/24)

Even as the nation is faced with blistering heat waves this summer, Dr. Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is already thinking ahead to cold and flu season this winter. “We’re going to have three bugs out there, three viruses: Covid, of course, flu and RSV,” Cohen said in an interview. “We need to make sure the American people understand all three and what they can do to protect themselves.” (Edwards, 7/22)