Building a More Resilient Strategic National Stockpile
The SNS Mission: Past and Present
Prior to COVID-19, planning for a Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) response primarily focused on regional or localized emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed vulnerabilities in the global medical supply chain that required the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to reassess, replenish and restructure the SNS to better protect the health and safety of all Americans.
Now, the focus is on the next generation of the SNS with the breadth and depth to meet the ongoing needs of COVID-19 as well as any future pandemic or public health emergency on a national scale. These changes and upgrades are bolstering the U.S. industrial base to produce critical pharmaceuticals and medical supplies and, most importantly, reducing America’s reliance on foreign suppliers and manufacturers. SNS 2.0 ensures we are ready and resilient when the country needs us.
SNS 2.0: The Next Generation
HHS is working to build a 90- day capacity of the most critical supplies for the COVID-19 response needs of the U.S. healthcare system.
As part of this effort, SNS has invested $8.8 billion in supplemental funding to procure additional personal protective equipment, ventilators, and medical countermeasures. The SNS also has expanded investment in domestic manufacturing to meet commercial demand and stockpile needs.
SNS 2.0 Priorities
The SNS is focused on five priority areas to bolster national health security and ensure readiness:
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Replenishing the SNS
Replenishment is well underway. As of October 20, 2020, the SNS has 8 times more N95 respirators and 8 times more ventilators on hand than pre-pandemic inventory. Other critical personal protective equipment is arriving in the SNS daily, including surgical masks, gowns, coveralls, eye protection and gloves. In addition, seven new contracts are providing the SNS with additional intravenous drugs that can be used in intensive care units.
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Refining SNS strategy and structure
Medical countermeasure and supply chain experts are reviewing and revising the types and quantities of supplies needed for a variety of public health threats.
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Establishing a distributor working model
SNS is collaborating with commercial partners to establish rapid and targeted deployment capabilities across PPE, pharmaceuticals, and testing products. This work is defining a long-term distributor model that enhances SNS deployment capability.
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Expanding the supply chain control tower
ASPR has established unprecedented visibility into the medial supply chain through its supply chain control tower. Real-time data from commercial partners across five PPE categories and 38 pharmaceuticals helps federal response officials with balancing supply and demand in emergencies and with decision-making on when and where to deploy SNS supplies.
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Expanding domestic manufacturing
SNS has executed approximately $638M investments in 17 companies to reduce supply vulnerabilities across product categories, including ventilators, various types of PPE, test kits, plasma, and active pharmaceutical ingredients. The goal of these investments is to reduce vulnerabilities in the medical supply chain and ensure the United States can produce its medical supplies stateside.
