I moved to Colorado 1.5 years ago with aspirations of attending Colorado State University and someday earning my PhD in microbiology. I’ve spent the last 3 years taking classes part-time in preparation. The reason I mention this is because I’ve spent a lot of my time learning the fundamentals of chemistry, microbiology, and biochemistry, which have helped tremendously in understanding the importance of accurate data and reporting on infectious diseases, as well as the general health of the population. Additionally, I count on funding for the research being done at institutions like Colorado State so I have access to live saving, preventative measures like vaccines, medications, and more.
It is abhorrent to stop all federal funding for these grants and to place an embargo on their reporting. We already saw 1 million people die during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic due to Trump’s negligence. He was so proud of the vaccines when they were first released, but that would not have been possible without the grant money from the NIH to enable the 30 years of research on RNA prior to the pandemic. Reporting like the MMRW provide epidemiologist the information they need to keep the public safe, which is critical right now if we don’t want to see epidemics of tuberculosis, avian flu, and more.
Please, I urge you to allow for the Human Health Services, including the CDC, to resume normal activities. Also consider that we will likely need new vaccines to effectively protect our population, pets, and livestock from these emerging highly pathogenic influenza strains, so resume the federal grants that will enable this research.
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