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KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: The Covid Response Coordinator Speaks

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Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House covid-19 response coordinator, is the guest for a wide-ranging interview on this week’s “What the Health?” podcast.

Jha, who is on leave from his “day job” as dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, said he’s particularly worried about the nation making the transition from public health emergency status back to a more normal footing and routine — particularly for low-income and uninsured people who may not be able to get the kind of covid tests, treatments, and vaccines that have so far been free through federal subsidies.

Jha said the Biden administration is doing more than the public realizes to study “long covid,” a set of conditions among a subset of patients who continue to suffer from an infection or its aftereffects, and to improve the quality of indoor air, which can help stem the spread of not only the coronavirus but other communicable respiratory diseases as well.

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This story was produced by KHN (Kaiser Health News), a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

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