Federal Supplies Not Reliable According WGBR, many states say the federal supplies make up a small part of their stockpiles after they spent millions of dollars to acquire equipment on their own. Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”) told the AP that its initial distributions were made on a per-capita basis, but also said the agency has tried to accommodate individual requests from the states. However, when Massachusetts urgently needed masks and other supplies for frontline workers facing a surge of infections, the federal agency handling protective gear instead sent large shipments to states with smaller populations and far fewer coronavirus cases. In May, Massachusetts received the lowest amount of personal protective equipment from the federal government in the U.S. relative to its count of positive cases, according to an analysis of data gathered by The Associated Press and shared with WBUR and other news outlets. The AP's data examined how the Federal Emergency Management Agency distributed PPE across the U.S.
“Massachusetts received only 10 percent of the PPE — including respirators, face shields, gloves, and gowns — it first requested from the Strategic National Stockpile,” Massachusetts senators and representatives said in a March 31 letter to FEMA, complaining about the agency’s lack of transparency. “A second shipment increased this figure to 17 percent.”
Pressley, who sits on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, said she has received no response from FEMA or the White House Coronavirus Taskforce.
Concerns extend beyond the amount of gear. In New Hampshire, an association representing nursing homes said most items sent by FEMA in early June were unusable, including child-size gloves, surgical masks with ear loops that broke when stretched and isolation gowns with no arm openings.
A nonprofit group called #GetUsPPE was established in March by physicians to help distribute donated protective gear.
On a second frontier, donations of PPEs by local community members arises. To streamline the donations and ensure qualities and effective distribution of the donations, the MASS Senate, let by Senator Bruce Tarr, organized the Senate Supply Chain The “MA Life Sciences Emergency Supply Hub” (https://www.massbio.org/initiatives/covid-19-supply-hub/) was formed out of this effort. The State has set up a portal for anyone seeking to donate supplies. Fill out the State’s COVID-19 donation form below.
On a third yet the most powerful frontier, seeing the lackluster of FEMA supplies and unsteady streams of donations, a miracle happened. On April 2, 2020, over one million masks are on their way from China to Massachusetts aboard a Patriots jet after owner Robert Kraft coordinated with Gov. Charlie Baker and federal officials to purchase the much-needed protective equipment. “As I said before, ordering vital equipment like this is only one part of the challenge and I am incredibly grateful that the Kraft’s worked this issue relentlessly alongside our Command Center staff to get these critical supplies to Massachusetts,” Governor Baker said in a statement. “The Kraft’s, our partners Ambassador Huang Ping, Dr. Jason Li, Gene Hartigan and our COVID-19 Command Center personnel teamed up to get this job done and we eagerly await the plane landing at Logan Airport soon.” See https://www.bostonherald.com/2020/04/02/robert-kraft-using-patriots-plane-to-airlift-coronavirus-masks-supplies-to-massachusetts-reports/.
However, the problem is that a sustainable supply chain, the adequate stock pile and the system of inspecting, ordering, processing at the customs and the logistics of obtaining demand and providing the distribution have never fully established after the scuffle in the spring of 2020. The new frontier of establishing and protecting the PPE supply chain needs legislation, and regulations to be established with a sense of urgency.
(work in progress)
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