On Oct. 18, HHS responded to frustration about the distribution speed of Zika funding, according to Morning Consult.
Here are seven insights:
1. HHS' Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs Kevin Griffis said the department must follow a process to spend federal money, and they have demonstrated "the seriousness with which we have approached this health challenge."
2. In September, legislators approved $1.1 billion to combat Zika.
3. HHS has received some heat for its slow process to distribute the approved funding. The department, however, noted they could not start distributing funding until Congress had officially allocated it.
4. With the process well underway now, the CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness Fund received $44.2 million in 62 jurisdictions.
5. HHS reported other federal agencies and states will receive funding to research the virus as well as prepare for outbreaks.
6. The department also allotted $75 million to providers who treated uninsured patients with Zika.
7. HHS will distribute a great chunk of supplemental funding in the first quarter of 2017.
