WASHINGTON — For four years, Democrats and Republicans have routinely clashed over funding to curb the Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for future crises. Now, the Biden administration is engaged in an internal such fight, one that reflects a long-simmering debate about who should manage national strongholds of emergency medical equipment, and how.
The office within the Department of Health and Human Services that oversees national stockpiles of medical gear — known as the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response — saw its relatively narrow role as health officials’ frontline for natural disasters and biothreats blossom during the pandemic as states scrambled to stock protective gear, therapies, and tests. As Covid-19 cases plateaued, the 2022 mpox outbreak brought fresh demands for equipment and support. Now, with an avian flu strain spreading among dairy cows, at least five states have asked for goggles, masks, and other gear.
As one former ASPR official put it, “states went from not knowing how to access the stockpile to now having them on speed dial.”
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