The strategic national stockpile of personal protective equipment has been depleted, and states won't be receiving any more shipments, The Hill reported.
HHS staff told the House Oversight and Reform Committee April 8 that 90 percent of the stockpile has been distributed to states and the remaining 10 percent will be reserved for federal workers.
"Now that the national stockpile has been depleted of critical equipment, it appears that the administration is leaving states to fend for themselves, to scour the open market for these scarce supplies, and to compete with each other and federal agencies in a chaotic, free-for-all bidding war," Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the oversight committee told The Hill.
A document released by the committee April 8 showed 11.7 million N95 masks have been distributed across the country, which is less than 1 percent of the 3.5 billion masks the government estimated would be necessary in a severe pandemic, according to The Hill.
HHS staff told The Hill that most supply shipments from the stockpile weren't based on states' requests, but on population.
Read the full article here.