The White House is asking Congress for $22.5 billion in emergency funding to combat Covid-19 after exhausting nearly all the money set aside for the pandemic, officials have said, according to AFP.

Cash previously greenlit by lawmakers has all but dried up and initiatives such as free Covid-19 testing will end “this spring” without more money.

Shalanda Young, the Office of Management and Budget's acting director, made the request in a letter sent to Capitol Hill.

“Resources from the prior Covid response bills enabled us to get over 215 million Americans fully vaccinated, make one billion tests available to Americans for free, order 20m antiviral treatment pills ... and commit to donating 1.2bn vaccines to the world,” Young said in a statement.

“They also let us respond forcefully to the Delta and Omicron surges — but now, nearly all of these funds have been used,” she added.