The Biden administration is also struggling to meet its obligations to other countries regarding supplies to fight the virus. This includes oxygen for the most sickest patients. The U.S. has been unable to fulfill only a small fraction of the requests for the gas and the supplies required to administer it. Recently, the U.S. shipped 1,500 oxygen cylinders and components to India and 1,000 to Nepal. According to an American official who has knowledge of the matter, Nepal originally requested nearly 20,000 cylinders.It is evident that the U.S. is not prepared for another increase in Covid-19-related infections by the difficulty it has had to obtain lifesaving medical supplies. This also highlights the challenges facing the Biden administration and governments worldwide in meeting the demand for essential medical products in the second-year of the pandemic.The U.S. missed the chance to contain the virus because it did not have the centralized intelligence needed to quickly identify, test, and execute rapid containment. Charity Dean, a former assistant director of California's Department of Public Health, stated that it was difficult to determine what healthcare systems would need to do in order to be prepared. The United States will not be ready for another pandemic if there isn't a technological revolution. The system is unable to move at the same speed as the pathogen.A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services stated that the SNS is trying to balance its stockpiling needs with the ongoing healthcare facility needs. HHS is also working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build up the U.S. stockpile.Two top officials involved in the stockpiling of federal government items said that the U.S. has failed to meet its stockpile targets. This is due to the fact that the Covid-19 cases have dropped drastically and that hospitals, public health officials, and other health care providers aren't submitting requests for assistance. The stockpile was created to assist the nation in preparing for unexpected emergencies. However, the government has not reduced the targets despite a weakening demand.Capitol Hill has been discussing ways to improve the organization and funding of the federal stockpile in light of the scramble for medical supplies during a wide-ranging health crisis.U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., and David McKinley, R-W.Va., introduced a bill in February to address the problem of personal protective equipment and test kit shortages. Senator Bill Cassidy (Republican from Louisiana) introduced a bill earlier this month. Earlier this month, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced legislation to reduce dependence on foreign materials and boost domestic manufacturing of medical supplies.Senator Maggie Hassan (D.N.H.), listens to testimony from Capitol Hill in Washington. Jacquelyn Martin/AP PhotoTara OToole, a former homeland safety official in the Obama administration, stated that the medical supply chain is complex and global. In a real world universe, the stockpile can't possibly keep enough stuff to meet all of the country's requirements.In 1999, the federal government established the stockpile (originally the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile) to combat potential biological, chemical, and disease threats to civilian populations. In 2003, it was renamed to the Strategic National Stockpile and the Department of Defense was assigned a part in its management along with HHS. The federal government could use the stockpile as a temporary solution to provide supplies to areas that were under threat or in need of them. It was not intended to be the only source of medical supplies for emergency situations.Hospitals, public health agencies, and other health care facilities should have their own stock of masks and gowns. They ran out of basic supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Due to the overwhelming number of Covid-19 victims, both public and private institutions had to look for personal protective equipment as well as therapeutics on a free market.Dean stated that the supply chain conversations I had in January were not as effective as they should have been. We didn't make the preparations that we needed in January and February until mid- to late March. The U.S. was now behind in critical supply chain access.To fill state gaps in Covid-19 materials and supplies, the federal government activated the stockpile. It did not have enough stock to meet the demand and federal officials had difficulty obtaining additional materials on the open marketplace. There was not enough supply of masks, gowns or ventilators to go around. Companies that made N95 masks and gowns didn't have the production capacity to produce enough product quickly.Police from Nassau County organized a drive to collect medical equipment, such as N95 surgical masks and nitrile gloves to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Al Bello/Getty ImagesThe United States still has not found a way to rapidly scale up production of drugs and other medical supplies to supplement its strategic national stockpile. This is partly because most manufacturers work on just-in time principles. These standards are meant to reduce inventory and maximize efficiency but fail to account for fluctuations in demand.Everyone wants inventory. OToole stated that it is not easy to pay for the expensive medicines left there every month. Hospital stockpiles are now smaller.The federal government has begun to collaborate with the private sector in order to make sure that manufacturers are able to scale up production quickly during large-scale epidemics of disease.HHS's Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority (BARDA), is looking for companies that are willing to change their manufacturing processes to increase production of medical supplies and therapeutics to better prepare for the next pandemic. One former Trump administration official told POLITICO that expanding the U.S. manufacturing capacity is difficult. According to the ex-official, it will take many years to construct facilities and manufacturing lines, as well as to hire workers to supervise production.The federal government believes that it has sufficient supply in its Strategic National Stockpile to meet small state requests as well as to deal with a slight increase in Covid-19 cases. Currently, 57 percent of adults in America are fully vaccinated. Officials said that the stockpile can only supplement state supplies and not replace them completely if there is a nationwide surge.The Biden administration also tries to assist countries around the world that are facing sharp spikes in Covid-19 deaths and cases. It is having difficulty sourcing and shipping supplies abroad. The administration has been receiving urgent requests from countries in Africa and the Middle East for oxygen and oxygen components, such as cylinders.In November 2020, the U.S. committed $18 million to support medical oxygen supplies in 11 countries. Only Honduras and Guatemala have received oxygen concentrators that filter oxygen from the donated air. The U.S. Agency for International Development began providing emergency medical oxygen supplies to Nepal and Bangladesh. Dozens more countries are seeking the same assistance as the U.S.Normal circumstances were normal. However, oxygen access was difficult for many countries even before the pandemic. Robert Matiru, who is a director of Unitaid, a global health initiative, stated that there has not been enough investment and attention to the issue. Multiple countries' health systems have been affected by their inability to maintain a baseline capacity, but the surge capacity has just overtaken them. The oxygen demand is nearly double, triple or quadruple of what is normal.
