The U.S. spent double on CARES than on its main medical researcher ever, data shows
The National Institutes of Health has received $1.2 trillion since 1887, adjusted for inflation. It’s been studying coronaviruses for years.
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The Trump administration spent twice as much money on the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act than the federal government ever gave to the National Institutes of Health, a GovSight analysis of appropriations funding shows. The N.I.H. has been studying coronaviruses for decades.
And of the approximately $2.6 trillion in federal emergency funds passed amid the coronavirus pandemic thus far, about $1.2 trillion has been designated for medical purposes.
Although the N.I.H. could not have prevented the world’s deadliest outbreak from occurring, it is versed in coronaviruses — from their origins to treatments to vaccines. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of 27 branches of the N.I.H., recognized seven coronaviruses to date.
The three most recent to emerge were more deadly strains: SARS in 2002, MERS in 2012 and COVID-19 in 2019. SARS — which spread to 26 countries, infected 8,000 and killed 774 — was eliminated in 2004, largely thanks to the N.I.A.I.D.’s vaccine candidate.
N.I.A.I.D. researchers determined how COVID-19 entered cells within two weeks of its discovery. Within two months, N.I.H.-sponsored sites began Phase 1 trials of the remdesivir treatment and a vaccine — a vaccine which N.I.H. Director Francis Collins said should go to Phase 1 trials in July in collaboration with biotech-company Moderna.
COVID-19 is a good candidate for a vaccine, Collins told the Associated Press, given that it leaves the system, which is untrue for viruses like H.I.V. Other companies are also formulating potential vaccines that the N.I.H. will work on ensuring fair prices for, if successful.
This is all part of the N.I.A.I.D.’s four-step plan to control the virus’ spread.
Some N.I.H. coronavirus research has been cut
But the Trump administration cut funding for a years-long project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people amid reports that researchers worked with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, POLITICO reported. Rumors fueled the notion that COVID-19 was born in that Wuhan lab; there is no evidence to back that claim.
EcoHealth Alliance, the nonprofit leading the research for the past five years, had worked with members of the Wuhan lab on an earlier grant, its president said. He denied that any money went to the Chinese lab this year.
The N.I.H. directed it to stop using remaining funds, terminating it in April.
History of the N.I.H. and funding
Housed in the Department of Health and Human Services, the N.I.H. is the nation’s medical research agency, offering grants to scientific collaborators all over the U.S. Although its roots trace back to 1798, it was officially incepted in 1887; the federal government began appropriating funds to it in 1938.
Some of the N.I.H.’s most recent discoveries were chemotherapy in 1958 and a Meningitis vaccine in 1987: Shingles in 2005. It instigated gene therapy trials in 2012 and a more accurate biomarker for influenza immunity in 2016.
Both the N.I.H. and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention faced severe cuts in the Trump administration’s 2021 budget proposal. Whereas the N.I.H. works on medical research, the C.D.C. focuses specifically on public health threats.
COVID-19 stimulus packages
Four major packages have passed to combat the economic weight that the coronavirus has placed on the United States:
- The Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act dedicated $8.3 billion to combat the virus at the international, national, state and local levels: March 6, 2020.
- The Families First Coronavirus Response Act allocated $3.5 billion to promote sick leave, free health testing, food security and unemployment aid: March 18, 2020.
- The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act — the largest rescue package in American history — delegated $2.1 trillion across businesses and public health, including the Payroll Protection Program and $1,200 stimulus checks: March 27, 2020.
- The Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act gave $484 billion to replenish P.P.P. loans and bolster small business, health care centers and testing: April 24, 2020.
And under negotiation is the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES) Act, which would disburse $3 trillion for state and local government revenue support, hazard pay for frontline workers and another round of direct payments. But the Democrat-backed bill barely passed the House; the Republican-majority Senate and White House have expressed their dismay already.
How GovSight analyzed the data
GovSight obtained the N.I.H. funding data from its appropriation portal. We adjusted it for inflation by using the Consumer Price Index to determine the compared value of a dollar from now to each year, calculated the percentage and multiplied it by 100, combining all of the adjusted appropriations per year to find the total. GovSight obtained the four major stimulus packages’ appropriations from Congress’ website and parsed through the allocations within each bill to determine what amount of funding was going toward medical purposes. We defined medical purposes as testing, health care facilities, research, medical supplies and health care workers’ aid.
GovSight’s Thomas Gordon contributed to this report.
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