Dzonsli/iStock(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — As medical facilities grapple with a rising shortage of critical supplies, such as face masks and gloves, Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Peter Gaynor announced that the organization is now tapping into the national stockpile.
Speaking to ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Gaynor said “They’re shipping today, they shipped yesterday, they’ll ship tomorrow.”
HYowever, Gaynor couldn’t provide concrete numbers and other details during the interview. “I mean, it is hundreds of thousands of millions of things that we’re shipping from the stockpile. I can’t give you the details about what every single state or what every single city is doing,” he said.
Gaynor said he is willing to exhaust the national stockpile if it means that health systems don’t become overwhelmed by a shortage. He also indicated that he is looking into relieving the shortage of test kits and other personal protective equipment.
Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Kevin McAleenan also spoke to This Week, explaining why the response has been challenged. “This is a completely different pathogen, and it’s created challenges that are unique and different,” he said. “The scale of this is very different — and what I see in this crisis right now is that we’ve reached a very important point.”
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