The Biden administration plans to bring more than 60 million at-home COVID-19 tests to the U.S. market by the end of the summer, according to White House adviser Tim Manning, who talked about it at a briefing Friday.
Manning, who serves as supply coordinator for the administration’s COVID-19 Response Team, said the plan will invoke the Defense Production Act to hurry the finalization of contracts with six companies in coming weeks, though he declined to name the companies.
The news is reassuring for the home care field, which is struggling to keep up with demand for workers while effectively trying to manage infection control concerns surrounding COVID-19. Under the terms of the contracts, the companies will construct new plants and build new production lines in the United States, Manning said.
The announcement follows news that the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense recently awarded Ellume, the maker of over-the-counter diagnostic COVID-19 tests, a $230 million contract to scale up manufacturing of its at-home COVID-19 tests, the only such test, for now, with Food and Drug Administration authorization.
Manning also announced Friday that the Defense Production Act will be invoked to boost supplies and materials needed by Pfizer to produce its vaccine, as well as to increase the U.S. supply of key medical products, such as gauze and medical gloves.
