Roy Blunt: We can see the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel

(From Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO)

We can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Less than a year ago, President Trump assembled Operation Warp Speed to develop, manufacture, and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine. My colleagues in Congress and I made it a top priority to ensure Operation Warp Speed had the funding and resources it needed to carry out its critical mission.

This week, Missourians began receiving vaccinations.

It’s estimated that Missouri could have more than 150,000 doses of the vaccine by the end of 2020.

We are witnessing a modern medical miracle. We have a safe and effective vaccine and another vaccine is right around the corner.

This is a groundbreaking moment that we would never have been able to reach, especially so quickly, without our prior investment in medical research.

When I became chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee that funds health-related programs nearly six years ago, I wanted to make medical research a priority again. At that time, funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) had stagnated, grant success rates had fallen to their lowest level in years, and young researchers were choosing other career paths.

I’m proud to say in the last five appropriations bills from my subcommittee, NIH’s funding has increased nearly 40%.

We reenergized the medical research field and, because of the increased resources, medical researchers across the country and in our state are on the verge of breakthroughs that will improve the quality of life for so many Americans.

Our investment in medical research over the last five years allowed America’s scientists to quickly pivot to the emergency pandemic response and get us where we are today in the fight to beat COVID-19.

If you had asked me in 2019, I would have cited NIH statistics that said a new drug, device, or treatment can take approximately 14 years to develop, with a failure rate exceeding 95 percent.

That statistic has been turned on its head because of American ingenuity.

In addition to vaccines, this week the FDA also approved the first at-home coronavirus test. This at-home test, which can you get over-the-counter, was developed because of an initiative Senator Alexander and I created at NIH last spring.

The RADx initiative used a Shark-Tank style approach to speed up the development of quick, accurate, and affordable coronavirus tests.

Through RADx, we are expecting to add 1.5 million tests per day by the end of the year.

We are on the cusp of finishing the fight against COVID-19 because of health care professionals and researchers who have been working nonstop. We owe them a deep debt of gratitude for all they’ve done and continue to do for us.

We are close to ending this pandemic, please stay vigilant as we all do our part to keep our loved ones and ourselves healthy.