{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-secures-220-million-in-year-end-spending-bill-for-universal-flu-vaccine-research", "Senator Markey Secures $220 Million in Year-End Spending Bill for Universal Flu Vaccine ResearchRead More", "2020-12-23", "2020", "2020-12", "Democrat", "House", "MA", "Edward Markey", "M000133", "www.markey.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington\r\n(December 23, 2020)  As 190.4 million fluvaccineshave been\r\ndistributed in the United States so far this flu season, Senator Edward J.\r\nMarkey (D-Mass.) announced he helped secure $220 million in the year-end\r\nspending package for research for the creation of a universal influenza vaccine\r\nthat could protect against multiple strains of the flu virus and offer longer\r\nlasting protection. The flu costs the nation at least $3.2 billion in direct\r\nmedical costs annually and $87 billion in total economic burden. With increased\r\nvaccination rates this flu season, paired with stay-at-home orders, incidence\r\nof flu cases are down 91 percent from November 2019. Last April, the National\r\nInstitutes of Health (NIH) began its first clinical trial of an innovative\r\nuniversal influenza vaccine candidate. With\r\nthe creation of the coronavirus vaccine, we have seen what happens when we\r\nfully empower scientists with the funding to research and innovate, said Senator Markey. Now, we have to do the same with\r\nthe creation of a universal flu vaccine and enhance our response to this global\r\nscourge. With the additional research funding in this year-end spending bill,\r\nwe will supercharge our ability to predict the right strain for the next\r\nseason, produce a more optimal vaccine, and protect all Americans against all\r\nstrains of this virus.Senator\r\nMarkey and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) previously introduced theFlu\r\nVaccine Act, legislation to conduct or\r\nsupport comprehensive research for the creation of a universal influenza\r\nvaccine that could protect against multiple strains of the flu virus and offer\r\nlonger lasting protection. The legislation calls for a total investment of $1\r\nbillion  $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 through 2024 for NIH.\r\nSenator Markey and his colleagues were able to secure a dedicated $100 million,\r\n$140 million, and $200 million for fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 2020,\r\nrespectively, for universal flu vaccine research at the National Institute of\r\nAllergy and Infectious Diseases within NIH.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/senator-markey-secures-220-million-in-year-end-spending-bill-for-universal-flu-vaccine-research"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.502159982919693, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}