Biden officials shift toward new virus phase

The Biden administration has made a marked shift toward a new phase where COVID-19 is no longer treated as a crisis, rolling out a series of new programs aimed at increasing access to treatment and boosting vaccine capacity for the future.

Why the change: The change comes amid major strides in recent weeks including new case counts that have plummeted from 800,000 per day in January to 60,000, according to a New York Times tracker.

President Biden sought to highlight this shift in his State of the Union address Tuesday, saying the virus “no longer need control our lives.” Mask mandates in the House chamber had been lifted just before his address to a joint session of Congress.

But the programs the administration aims to roll out require new funding from Congress, which could be held up by GOP lawmakers who don’t want to allocate more money toward fighting the virus.

There is also the possibility of a new variant that may evade the protection of vaccines that, for the third time in less than a year, again hangs as a threat over recent progress.