Lawmakers who sit on committees overseeing Veteran Affairs worry the U.S. is too reliant on China for personal protective equipment and want to know what the administration is doing about it before the next pandemic. Their concern comes as President Joe Biden met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Those lawmakers fear little has been done in recent years to boost the domestic supply chain, and members wanted answers Wednesday from the VA and HHS.
“The Covid-19 pandemic highlighted how fragile the supply chain is,” chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Jon Tester (D-Mont.) said Wednesday. “Essential medications were in short supply and materials to make PPE dwindled.”
But officials for the VA and HHS tried to alleviate that concern, telling the committee its agencies are working to fortify the U.S. supply chain before the next public health crisis.
“Procurement officers interact with industry frequently to educate and inform them that the federal government, the VA, must comply with the [Buy America Act] … and we are very interested in products that are made in America,” Bobby Small, acting executive director of the VA’s office of emergency management and resiliency, said.
Why it matters: A year into the pandemic, as the nation struggled to rapidly increase PPE manufacturing, the Biden administration ordered the VA, HHS and other agencies to identify vulnerabilities in the nation’s PPE supply chain and develop a strategy to remedy it. The order came as both Chinese exports of PPE to the U.S. and prices skyrocketed.
According to International Trade Commission data, as of mid-2023, 40 percent of the U.S.’ nitrile glove supply comes from China, while U.S. manufacturers make around 2 percent of what’s needed annually.
VA spokesperson Terrence Hayes told Pulse the agency is working on responses to a letter sent this month by Reps. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) on the issue.
Meanwhile, some domestic manufacturers of PPE told Pulse they received contracts from HHS in 2021 to increase domestic production of supplies needed to produce PPE, but they can’t get manufacturing off the ground without additional investments.
Such is the case with Blue Star NBR, which received more than $123 million from HHS to increase production of the nitrile butadiene rubber used in medical gloves. CEO Scott Maier told Pulse the company wasn’t awarded additional contracts to finish the factory and produce the gloves.
HHS did not respond to a request for comment about ongoing and prior contracts with domestic PPE manufacturers.
By CHELSEA CIRRUZZO and BEN LEONARD – Full article here