Federal health agencies would continue their work combating the Covid-19 pandemic in the event of a government shutdown—even one where the Health and Human Services Department would be forced to furlough 43% of its staff.
The FDA would continue to authorize vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics; the CDC’s labs and its 24/7 emergency operations center would stay open; and the NIH would sustain its support for priority Covid-19 research and development, according to an HHS contingency plan.
The Biden administration will “will take every step it legally can to mitigate the impacts of a potential shutdown on our pandemic response, ...