The Trump administration has ended multiple federal grants for COVID-19 totaling over $190.4 million.
The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) learned of the grant terminations last week, per a press release issued over the weekend.
Among the terminated grants were the COVID-19 Health Disparities Grant, three COVID-related subgrants within the Immunizations and Vaccines For Children Program Grant, and four COVID-related subgrants within the Epidemiology Laboratory Capacity Grant. In total, about 270 grants were cancelled with local Arizona organizations. The cancellations will likely result in job losses across the 15 county health departments, multiple tribal health departments, and university partners that received these grants.
Among those to confirm that job losses were among the impacts of the funding cuts were Pima and Mohave counties, per their statements to 12 News. Maricopa County was unable to confirm whether the funding would impact employment.
ADHS disclosed in its press release that it planned to rely on unnamed “partners” for a response to the terminations.
“Projects funded through these grants help protect the health and safety of Arizonans. They have been on-track and in full compliance of grant requirements. Statewide collaborative efforts to bolster effective detection, response, prevention, and control of emerging (or re-emerging) infectious diseases have been the central focus of these grants. The COVID-19 pandemic magnified gaps in public health infrastructure, including the statewide disease case surveillance system (MEDSIS), which is a key tool in monitoring disease cases and clusters. The termination of these funds has halted this project, meaning it will never ‘launch’ for the benefit of Arizonans. Moreover, as research on communicable diseases continues to evolve, these funds support efforts to share findings with the public so they can make informed decisions.”
The terminated grants were part of a larger move cancelling and recovering over $11 billion in grants related to COVID-19 last week. Health and Human Services (HHS) spokesman Andrew Nixon said in a statement the grants were a continued “waste” of taxpayer funds, and that the Trump administration was focused on making America healthy again.
“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,” said Nixon. “HHS is prioritizing funding projects that will deliver on President Trump’s mandate to address our chronic disease epidemic and Make America Healthy Again.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will recover the $11 billion in funds beginning 30 days after the termination notices. ADHS received its termination notice last Tuesday.
HHS stated in a press release last Wednesday that it would undergo “a dramatic restructuring” to align with President Donald Trump’s executive order concerning DOGE, “Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Workforce Optimization Initiative.”
The HHS restructuring included an estimated $2 billion in savings annually by downsizing the agency by 10,000 full-time HHS employees; streamlining the 28 HHS divisions into 15 new divisions and reducing regional offices from 10 to five; overhauling the HHS priority of ending the chronic illness epidemic by focusing on “safe, wholesome food, clean water, and elimination of environmental toxins”; and stressing HHS responsiveness.
