COVID-19 Supply shortages: So, you may ask, what about that National Strategic Stockpile?

[hlthe2b]

I am surprised more reporters have not been asking. But here are some facts.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/14/814121891/why-even-a-huge-medical-stockpile-will-be-of-limited-use-against-covid-19

Almost everything about the stockpile is secret, for security reasons, although the broad outlines of its holdings are known. About $8 billion worth of vaccines, pharmaceuticals, protective gear, ventilators and other kinds of medical equipment are housed in warehouses that are strategically located around the United States.

From the outside, these warehouses look ordinary. Inside, however, armed guards stand watch over a vast collection of materials. Giant freezers keep certain products cold. Locked, caged-off sections of the warehouses store controlled substances such as painkillers. Rows of ventilators, which can support people who are having trouble breathing, are kept charged up and ready to roll at a moment's notice. --snip--

The stockpile can fill gaps in supply chains or respond to sudden surges in demand caused by emergencies, says O'Toole, but "it is not big enough and it can never be big enough to replace the supply chains."

"It's a bridge," she says. "It's not a replacement for the private sector." That means there could still be shortages of critical items, as it would take time for manufacturers to ramp up production.

Take masks, for example. Steven Adams, the acting director of the stockpile program, says it currently holds about 30 million simple surgical masks and 12 million of the more protective N95 masks that are certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

But that's not much compared with what will be required to combat the coronavirus. "The demand of 300 million would be anticipated in the initial response," Adams tells NPR. "These are estimates, and different experts have, of course, different opinions. But I think the general view is that probably 300 million a month would be a likely scenario for a full-scale pandemic influenza, which is the primary basis for modeling."

Already, Washington state has requested hundreds of thousands of masks from the stockpile and has gotten shipments. More requests are sure to come in. The federal government says it wants to buy 500 million domestically made masks over the next year and a half.

[MineralMan]

1. Trump Needs to Learn How to Be a Shipping Clerk!

The USAF and Air National Guard has transport planes that can take what is needed to where it is needed from this stockpile. It should be done, starting several days ago.

Those masks need to be distributed immediately to those who desperately need them, starting with first responders and medical staffers.

The surplus ventilators should be shipped immediately to hospitals that are potentially going to be the most faced with the need.

This is why the stockpile was created. Trump isn't using it for any purpose. He should be removed from office for his nonfeasance.

[DonaldsRump]

2. Absolutely right...

I have many close relatives who are doctors, nurses etc. I am shocked that the CDC has been reduced to saying bandanas can be used as a mask and putting them, their patients and ultimately all of us in harm's way.

Are you effin' kidding me?: Trump would allow our health care professionals to be infected, but allows ICE to have N95 masks? To paraphrase the last lines in JFK, "this is not the country that I was born in, and it is surely not the country I want to die in."

Use these from the stockpile and then replenish the stockpile as the mask and other supply chains catch up.

This is what it's for. This is our nuclear emergency. It is happening NOW.