More than a billion federal dollars went into building USA production of masks, gloves and gowns after the COVID-19 shortages, but the effort to make medical gloves here has stalled, NPR reported on November 1, 2023.
What NPR found
- The USA uses over 100 billion medical exam gloves a year, almost all from Asia.
- Blue Star NBR built a plant in southern Virginia with a $123 million federal grant to make medical-grade nitrile rubber. CEO Scott Maier said it is the only such U.S. plant, and it sits idle because funding for a matching glove factory never came.
- United Safety Technology’s glove factory, designed for 10 billion gloves a year, was unfinished. CEO Dan Izhaky blamed inflation and low-priced Chinese gloves.
- Manufacturers wrote to Congress saying the domestic PPE effort was close to collapse and some firms were laying off workers.
HHS told NPR it expected 2.5 billion more USA-made gloves the next year. Eric Toner of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security said big hospital buyers usually choose the cheapest glove, which makes support for domestic production a hard sell.
“Once global supply chains shut down, if we don’t have some domestic capability to produce this, then it’s shame on us – all of us.”
Dan Izhaky, CEO, United Safety Technology
FAQ
Why is the Virginia plant idle?
Blue Star NBR built the rubber plant, but funding for the glove factory to use it never came.
Who is taking over the U.S. glove market?
Chinese makers selling at very low prices, according to U.S. manufacturers.
What does HHS expect?
About 2.5 billion more USA-made gloves the next year.
Source & credit
Source: NPR, November 1, 2023: “Despite post-COVID efforts, the U.S. is still undersupplied with domestic-made PPE”.