Posted on 03/31/2020 9:17:59 PM PDT by bitt
The stockpile's 100 million supply of N95 respirator masks was never fully replenished after 2009 swine flu pandemic, experts say.
The Strategic National Stockpile, America’s giant medical storage closet for a terrorist or biological crisis, once boasted more than 100 million respirator masks to protect doctors, nurses and other frontline health care workers in case of a contagion.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic started a few months ago, the supply had dwindled down to just 12 million fitted masks, known as N95 respirators, and 30 million surgical masks, a supply deemed to be less than 2 percent of what the nation would need for full-blown pandemic.
The tale of how such a critical supply lapsed, leading the Trump administration to scramble for 500 million new masks in the midst of pandemic, is one of government neglect and competing priorities that began in 2009.
That’s when the Obama administration drew down nearly 97 million of the masks to deal with the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, effectively protecting frontline medical workers from a virus that infected more than 60 million Americans.
But when it was over, the administration decided not to fully restock the respirators, choosing to spend its $600 million annual budget for the stockpile on other priorities such as key drugs and vaccines to deal with smallpox, anthrax and the like, experts said.
There is really “no answer why the supplies were not replenished because the N95 masks are invaluable tools for preparedness and it was important that they be restocked,” said Charles Johnson, President of International Safety Equipment Association, whose members make supplies for the stockpile.
In the end, Johnson said, the Obama administration chose to use its “limited funds” in other ways and “made the best choices at the time even though his association
(Excerpt) Read more at justthenews.com ...
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Obunghole didn’t give a $hit. And now he’s criticizing Trump.
What I don't understand is these doctors and nurses complaining.
Why weren't they aware if they're on the front lines?
They should have individually prepared!
00 Who dropped the ball at the local and hospital level?
6 months ago you could have filled your garage with PPE for the cost of a couple of cable bills.
I'm a lowly EMT and I have enough stuff for my family.
obama does what was put in the White House to do: Destroy the United States of America. But you are correct in your assessment that the son of a bitch did not give a shit about America. Neither did the bastards that voted for him.
The system works. This government sucks.
“...the Obama administration chose to use its “limited funds” in other ways...”
______
Like billions in cash on pallets for Iran...
Even now, foreigners are buying up massive amounts of AMERICAN masks.
Read the story, just above this one.
This has been happening for two months!!!
Yep.
and Joe said he wasn’t involved.
Oh bull stuff. It didn't have to be an either or situation.
Nonsense...
That budget isn’t discretionary, and Obama had a cooperative Congress. The Congress saw fit to not fund the replacement masks.
Obama is irrelevant. Let’s concentrate with current issues.
Let’s put a little persepective to this. He didn’t ask for more money to replenish the supply cuz he needed to fund the gimme crowd.
So did President Trump, supposedly, for 2 years.
1. Russia Russia Russia!
2. Again, Congress. What were they doing to fix this? IIRC, that budget priority is granted by Congress.
Oh gee, will you look at that. Government incompetence helped create a future ‘crisis’.
JoMa
My take is that Obama conspired with China to help plan this way back then. . . .
I’m not positive it’s a lie, but the Rats tell far bigger lies every day.
The domestic market supply is there. The problem is our own domestic need for the masks - our own healthcare industry - is having a supply problem because so much of the U.S. production of the masks is being sold as exports for pandemic-panic buying prices foreigners are willing to pay. A recent Forbes article discussed this.
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