If a bioweapon struck an American city, for example, officials could quickly access vaccines and antitoxins to fight back against nerve agents or diseases like smallpox. That never happened, but because biological attacks were becoming a growing threat, the US government outfitted the stockpile in the interest of national security. Formed in 1999 as anxiety over Y2K mounted, this federal stockpile was designed to prevent an interruption to hospital supply chains, if all the computers ended up melting down on New Year’s Eve. The Strategic National Stockpile, like the nuclear arsenal, is something government officials hoped they would never need to use. What is the Strategic National Stockpile, anyway? But it’s not entirely clear what will happen when it’s emptied out. Part of this new definition of the Strategic National Stockpile does reside in the general vicinity of reality. This particular description online now refers to the federal stockpile as “a short-term stopgap buffer.” Then, the following morning, the Strategic National Stockpile website had been changed to deemphasize its commitment to helping states and to downplay the size of its inventory. When asked about states’ needs for supplies, Kushner said the stockpile was “supposed to be our stockpile.” The president’s son-in-law added, “It’s not supposed to be states’ stockpiles that they then use.” That’s why Jared Kushner, senior adviser to the president, prompted controversy when he made a rare public appearance at the April 2 coronavirus task force briefing and commented on the federal stockpile. It’s also starting to run out of supplies. But as President Donald Trump struggles to coordinate a cohesive response to the pandemic - fighting with state governors over how these supplies will be distributed and reportedly seizing shipments from private companies before distributing supplies to political allies - the stockpile is becoming a contentious subject. States lacking essential equipment like ventilators and masks need relief quickly. To receive SNS assets, the affected state's governor's office would directly request the deployment of the SNS assets from HHS.The Strategic National Stockpile, a relatively obscure office in the federal government that manages the country’s emergency medical supplies, exists to respond to a crisis like the coronavirus pandemic.Īs the United States faces hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 cases, a widespread shortage of medical supplies is reaching a critical point. National agencies e.g., FEMA, FBI in certain circumstances State departments of health, usually in conjunction with the state governor Examples might be emergencies resulting from a major earthquake, pandemic flu, a smallpox event, and terrorist events of chemical, biological, radiological/nuclear, or explosive incidents. The plan is to deliver critical medical resources to the site of a national emergency when local public health resources would likely be or have already been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the medical emergency. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), HHSįederal agencies, primarily ASPR, are responsible for maintenance and delivery of SNS assets, but state and local authorities must plan to receive, store, stage, distribute, and dispense the assets. The SNS is designed to supplement and resupply state and local public health agencies in the event of a national emergency anywhere and at anytime within the United States or its territories. 1, 2018, the Strategic National Stockpile is managed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) in the U.S. With the signing of the BioShield legislation, the SNS program was returned to HHS for oversight and guidance.Įffective Oct. On March 1, 2003, the NPS became the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) program managed jointly by DHS and HHS. The program was originally called the National Pharmaceutical Stockpile (NPS) program, but it has since been extended to involve much more than just drugs. In 1998, Congress appropriated funds for the CDC to acquire a pharmaceutical and vaccine stockpile to counter potential biological and chemical threats and threats from widespread diseases that could affect large numbers of persons in the civilian population. The SNS is a national repository of antibiotics, chemical antidotes, antitoxins, life-support medications, IV administration, airway maintenance supplies, and medical/surgical items.
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