The Biden administration has sent more than 90 percent of orders to COVIDtests.gov, the White House chief test adviser said, limiting an “unprecedented” effort to buy, package and deliver millions of dollars. free COVID-19 home trials for Americans, as the Omicron variant caused a record increase in demand last month.
“It’s a lot of news. It’s the biggest test drive in history. It’s the fastest delivery of anything to that number of homes,” said Dr. Thomas Inglesby, who was selected during the winter to serve. in response to the White House’s COVID-19. senior team test advisor.
Inglesby said obtaining test kits from suppliers had been the “limiting fee” step to comply with all initial requests, which the administration had initially said would “normally be sent in 7 to 12 days”. after order “. The White House announced last month that it had received about 60 million orders within 10 days of launching the site.
- Here’s how to apply for free COVID tests at home
Although some of the initial batches of orders were shipped as early as 24 hours after they were placed, millions of Americans ended up waiting weeks for their evidence to be shipped, many arrived after the wave of Omicron cases it would have begun to wane. Tests were sent on a first-come, first-served basis.
“Companies have been moving as fast as they could, and that pace has accelerated over time. As the tests have come, we’ll get them out as fast as we deliver them from the manufacturers,” Inglesby said. .
In some cases, Inglesby said the Biden administration had to build the logistics infrastructure to speed up the delivery of tests from factories to U.S. postal service fulfillment centers, where they had hired thousands of mail workers to pack. and labeling pallets arriving from manufacturers. .
These efforts were led by a group gathered across the U.S. Postal Service and an arm of the Department of Health and Human Services called HCORE, which recently took over the Operation Warp Speed team that developed and distribute COVID-19 vaccines. The Biden administration also hired a senior FedEx vice president, Inglesby said, to help manage the logistics of the effort.
“For many companies, this was something they had never done before at this scale or speed. And so it was, from companies and from government and logistics providers, whether they were moving trucks or planes. things around, ”Inglesby said.
Of the companies hired to provide the first 500 million free trials of the website: Abbott, iHealth Lab, Roche Diagnostics, Revival Health, Atlantic Trading, Siemens Healthineers, most rejected or did not respond to requests for comment.
Kimberly Nissen, a spokeswoman for Siemens Healthineers, said the company was “delivering on schedule” for the Biden administration.
Deployment challenges
Officials say the first challenges posed by the deployment of COVIDtests.gov have been largely solved, beyond simply increasing supply to meet demand.
One of the first concerns was expressed by Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who blamed the Biden administration’s efforts to cannibalize the internal supply of evidence.
“We were acquiring our own, you know, the states have been at the forefront during this crisis. And now it seems as if, instead of producing more of these quick tests, the federal government is only buying the ones we already had. “The Republican governor told CBS News’ Face the Nation. in January.
White House officials quickly pointed out the language of their contracts, which requires that “they must not interfere with, or interrupt in any way, current production or delivery orders for any commercial or government entity located in the U.S. or in their territories “.
Inglesby attributed most similar early complaints from companies and states to “confusion around distributors,” saying in cases like Maryland that federal officials moved quickly to contact suppliers and test manufacturers to remind them. the requirements of the Biden administration contract.
A Hogan spokesman confirmed that the problem had been resolved and that Maryland was “receiving a stable supply of test kits at home.”
“We haven’t heard any concerns about this probably in, I would say, for more than four weeks right now,” Inglesby said.
For Americans whose addresses were rejected by the postal service form, another early complaint, some people were able to successfully request proof after residential mailboxes were added to the website’s eligibility.
More complicated situations, such as buildings that were not registered as apartments in the Postal Service database or redirecting universities bedroom packages through a single mail center, challenged simple computer solutions.
Such issues have been resolved through service requests with the Postal Service, which may be submitted online or by telephone.
David Partenheimer, a spokesman for the Postal Service, said the problem was still a “small percentage” of orders through the portal, but declined to share specific metrics on how many service requests had been submitted.
“A lot of them have been resolved and for those who haven’t, they’re working. But it’s a very, very, very small minority right now,” Inglesby said.
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