The Virginia Department of Health says its staffing will be impacted after learning several COVID-19-related grants are ending earlier than anticipated.
The Trump administration announced the decision Tuesday to pull back on $11.4 billion in COVID-19-related funds for state and local public health departments and other health organizations throughout the nation, according to reporting by the Associated Press.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is over, and HHS will no longer waste billions of taxpayer dollars responding to a non-existent pandemic that Americans moved on from years ago,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.
VDH confirmed to WTKR News 3 Thursday that they're still assessing how they'll be impacted by the funding changes. However, the agency noted that both staffing and projects will be impacted.
The agency's full statement is as follows:
"The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) was recently notified that several COVID-19-related grants will be ending prior to their original termination date. Though the affected grants include non-expended and unobligated funds, there will be impacts to current staffing and ongoing projects that these grants currently fund. VDH is working to assess the exact impacts that these changes will have and will be communicating to affected staff and partner organizations. The overall ongoing work of public health will continue as we navigate these changes in federal funding."
The department's local health districts include Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Western Tidewater, the Peninsula, Chesapeake and the Eastern Shore.
WTKR News 3 will continue to follow this story.
