By Regardless of the promising outlook offered by the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine rollout that started earlier this week, officers insist that it’s simply as important as ever to take security measures in stopping the unfold of COVID-19.
“Whereas we’re within the strategy of immunizing the American folks, we should hold our guard up,” mentioned Dr. Admiral Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for Well being on the U.S. Division of Well being and Human Companies, in a media briefing Thursday. “We should proceed our important mitigation steps and you realize what they’re, the three W’s: Put on a masks, watch your distance, wash your fingers.”
One other key half within the combat in opposition to COVID-19 is testing, and to help these efforts, HHS introduced Thursday three initiatives it is taking to assist states on this endeavor.
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WHAT’S THE IMPACT
HHS will proceed to supply weekly shipments of testing provides to states and territories by no less than March 2021, though it anticipates longer.
The company additionally labored with the Normal Companies Administration to arrange a contract with Abbott Diagnostics to permit states, territories, tribes and different authorities businesses to buy Abbott BinaxNOW fast antigen assessments at a hard and fast value by an current Federal Provide Schedule program.
The contract ensures that states get a constant supply of testing provides and removes the necessity for states to barter particular person buying agreements with producers. It establishes a most variety of assessments that every territory should buy every month to assist be sure there are sufficient provides for all. This system will start in mid-January, in response to HHS.
Lastly, HHS is allocating a further 30 million Abbott BinaxNOW assessments for weak teams resembling nursing houses, assisted dwelling services, residence well being care, hospice organizations, HBCUs, tribes and extra. HHS estimates that this provide ought to final by March 2021.
THE LARGER TREND
Abbott’s BinaxNOW assessments acquired emergency use authorization again in August and HHS shortly awarded Abbott a contract for $760 million for the supply of 150 million fast COVID-19 diagnostic assessments.
Of the 150 million assessments procured by HHS, 100 million have been allotted to the nation’s governors to make use of as they noticed match of their states and 50 million have been put aside particularly for testing in high-risk populations.
Thus far, greater than 218 million COVID-19 assessments have been accomplished in america, in response to HHS. It has offered $11 billion to states, territories and federally related states to extend testing capability, and $20 billion to help testing and different wants in nursing houses, assisted dwelling services and residential healthcare businesses.
The Meals and Drug Administration’s Vaccines and Associated Organic Merchandise Advisory Committee will evaluate the Moderna vaccine in the present day because it did for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine final Thursday.
The advisory committee is anticipated to take a vote by the top of the day on whether or not to advocate emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine to the FDA and if authorised, distribution would start this month.
If approved, HHS expects it is going to be in a position to ship 7.9 million extra doses of vaccines to states subsequent week.
ON THE RECORD
“Over the previous 12 months, our profitable partnerships with federal businesses, trade, state leaders and state well being businesses, have yielded novel, state of-the-art COVID-19 assessments and drastically elevated the amount of producing of testing provides,” Giroir mentioned in an announcement. “Our work will not be performed, nonetheless. We’re taking motion to assist make sure that states, territories, and particularly nursing houses, which take care of our most weak sufferers, proceed to have entry to the proper assessments on the proper time effectively into 2021.”
