WASHINGTON (AP) — Thousands of people were dying from COVID-19 every day. Americans were still being ordered to stay-at-home or mask in public. Millions of people were eager to line up for jabs of the newly-released COVID-19 vaccines.
That's the scene the nation's top health official, Xavier Becerra, wants Americans to remember as he readies to leave the office, possibly to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Kennedy is a vehement critic of the vaccine that government officials — Becerra included — promoted to combat the deadly virus.
“We essentially lost as many Americans in one day from COVID-19 as we'd lose with 10 jumbo jets going down, every day. That's where we were,” Becerra said in an interview on Wednesday with the Associated Press.
“Fast forward four years later ... we are in a much better place.”
A former California attorney general and congressman, Becerra's unwavering support for the Affordable Care Act helped land him the top job at the DHS, running a $1.7 trillion agency that is responsible for nearly half of the country's health insurance, developing vaccines and inspecting foods on supermarket shelves.
His tenure has been marked by victories — overseeing one of the largest mass vaccination programs in U.S. history and reviving dwindling enrollment in the Affordable Care Act program among them — as well as occasional controversy — a massive baby formula shortage that left parents scrambling and questions over his office's oversight of migrant children.
A look at Becerra's time as the nation's top health official, and the advice he has for his successor:
Come prepared, Kennedy
Becerra didn't mention Kennedy by name Kennedy, but he did offer advice to his prospective replacement.
Be worried about the things you can't see, he said. Cyberattacks that have disabled hospitals for weeks at a time and invisible particles of viruses, like the bird flu that has infected U.S. cattle and left one person in Louisiana dead.
“You got to be ready for those kind of things. The health care sector isn't ready yet,” Becerra said. “Not the way it should be.”
A hazy future for vaccinations
Becerra credits the nation's widespread uptake of the first round of COVID-19 shots to his department's push to offer COVID-19 vaccinations at churches, festivals and local community events.
Roughly 78% of Americans had received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine within the first year.
But uptake for additional COVID-19 vaccine boosters has plummeted and trust in other vaccines is waning.
And now Kennedy, who has said he advises parents against vaccinating their children, is poised to lead the agency that researches, develops and makes vaccine recommendations.
“If you hear people who are supposed to be giving you good guidance on what to do, telling you: ‘don’t do it' or ‘it may not be good for you,’ it's going to be tougher," Becerra said.
More people have health insurance, but a broken system persists
The number of people in the U.S. with health insurance has risen sharply under Becerra, with the administration announcing on Wednesday that a record of nearly 24 million people have signed up for coverage through the Affordable Care Act's marketplace.
“They don’t have to go in humbly and embarrassed that they need care and can’t pay for it," Becerra said of millions of people who now have health insurance.
Increased enrollment has largely been driven by billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies that have lowered premiums and expanded eligibility for the marketplace insurance for millions of new Americans. Those subsidies expire at the end of this year, unless Congress agrees to extend them.
Even with more people enrolled in health insurance, problems with the U.S. health care system persist, Becerra acknowledged.
He described a “clunky” system where companies make money off Americans without actually providing health care services. Access to the best health care remains uneven, he added.
“We're fortunate that we have the best science and the best technology,” Becerra said. “But you better have money to access that.”
Amanda Seitz, The Associated Press
