The White House said in a press release that the president on Monday signed a bill that had already been passed by Congress to end the national emergency. This means government funding will no longer be available for covid testing, free vaccinations and other emergency measures.

The US government says it continues to work on next-generation vaccines and other measures to combat future variants of the virus. The government has earmarked at least $5 billion for the ‘NextGen’ programme. The fund is meant to “promote scientific progress” and “stay one step ahead of the fast-evolving virus that causes Covid-19”.

“While our vaccines are highly effective at preventing serious illness and death, they are less effective at preventing the spread of the virus,” said a spokesperson for the US Health Service HHS. “Therefore, finding solutions to new variants and the loss of immunity over time is a challenge for our health system.”