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- CAP Advocacy Win: Biden Administration Increases COVID-19 Testing Funds
The White House expanded resources for COVID-19 testing after calls by the CAP for assistance to address supply shortages. On February 17, the Biden Administration announced that the Department of the Health and Human Services (HHS) released $650 million in resources to expand testing, increase manufacturing of testing supplies, and support genomic sequencing. Previously, the CAP had engaged with the Biden administration on its COVID-19 pandemic strategy and encouraged the government to increase testing and supplies resources.
With the increased funding, which is separate from the COVID-19 relief package in Congress, the HHS will establish regional coordinating centers to organize the distribution of COVID-19 testing supplies. The HHS will also partner with laboratories across the country, including universities and commercial laboratories, to collect specimens, perform tests, and report results to the relevant public health agencies.
The HHS and the Department of Defense will invest $815 million to increase domestic manufacturing of testing supplies and raw materials, including filter pipette tips, nitrocellulose used in antigen point-of-care tests, and specific injected molded plastics needed to house testing reagents. The CAP welcomed the additional resources to improve the supply chain for testing as noted through surveys of laboratory directors in 2020 the continued lack of testing supplies has hindered COVID-19 diagnostic testing.
Additionally, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will invest nearly $200 million to identify, track, and mitigate emerging strains of SARS-CoV-2 through genome sequencing. Increasing samples will improve our ability to detect emerging variants and understand their spread with greater precision. Expanded testing is critical to support more genomic sequencing because sequencing only occurs after a positive COVID-19 test.
In a January 27 letter the CAP reviewed issues throughout the testing process, in addition to problems with obtaining testing supplies, continued access to services, and the financial implications of the pandemic on laboratories.