Earlier this year, the World Health Organization toed a fine line between acknowledging the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over, while laying the groundwork to begin transitioning out of a global emergency. However, President Biden and his administration aren’t waiting to follow the World Health Organization's lead.

The administration plans to “terminate” the coronavirus national and public health emergencies on May 11 of this year. And perhaps sooner, now that a Republican led bill to end the emergency is headed towards his desk. The president continues to indicate he has no intention of vetoing the bill. The CDC reports a weekly COVID cases average just shy of 140,000 people, with nearly 2,000 dying from the illness weekly. And 11% of those who contract the illness find themselves also managing the fallout of Long Covid.

We speak with the Director of Epidemiology at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Chief of Research and Development for the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Saint Louis, Zayid Al-Aly.