The Biden administration plans to announce on Wednesday a $137 million contract for Millipore Sigma, a unit of Germany's Merck KGaA , to boost production capacity of a highly constrained component of rapid coronavirus tests, a senior administration official told Reuters.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks virtually with service members, from the Eisenhower Executive Office Building's South Court Auditorium at the White House, during an event with first lady Jill Biden, in Washington, U.S., December 25, 2021.
The money will allow the company over three years to build a new facility to produce nitrocellulose membranes, the paper that displays test results, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. That, in turn, will allow for 85 million more tests to be produced per month, the official said.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com"It's probably the most constrained piece of technology in expanding capacity, in making more of these over-the-counter or point-of-care tests," the official said.
The contract, which will be announced by the Department of Defense for the Department of Health and Human Services, is part of a bid by the Biden administration to ramp up production of scarce rapid COVID-19 tests, which has taken on more urgency as nations grapple with the highly infectious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
But U.S. testing is behind the curve because of a lack of skilled workers, a shortage of at-home tests and under-investment in recent months, and health experts in the U.S. said Biden's latest plan was "too little, too late."
México Últimas Noticias, México Titulares
Similar News:También puedes leer noticias similares a ésta que hemos recopilado de otras fuentes de noticias.
Biden revokes COVID-19 travel ban from southern African nationsThe U.S. travel ban from several southern African countries is being lifted, President Joe Biden said in a proclamation.
Leer más »
Critics slam 'hypocrite' Biden for claiming 'no federal solution' to pandemic after vow to 'shut down' COVIDCritics on both ends of the political spectrum went full blast on President Biden's claim Monday that states are responsible for solving the coronavirus crisis, pointing out Biden's long history of claiming he would bring the country out of the pandemic.
Leer más »
Biden to speak with Putin on ThursdayEarlier this month, Moscow submitted draft security documents demanding that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back its military deployments in Central and …
Leer más »