nasopharyngeal swab...)
>> That doesn't feel very good.
>> There are dozens of tests
approved by the FDA that can
check for an active coronavirus
infection by taking a sample from
the back of your nose or throat.
All of these tests require one
key element. This. The swab. And
for months now, the U.S. hasn't
had enough of that. It's one
reason there are still complaints
about testing shortages
nationwide. But first, it's
important to understand that a
coronavirus test is not one
single kit or device.
>> There are several different
steps and pieces of equipment all
sourced from different places.
>> The first step, the swabbing,
usually happens at a hospital or
community health center or drive
through testing site. The other
steps where the samples get
analyzed usually happen in a lab.
And if one element is missing
from that chain, that can prevent
testing from happening entirely.
And that's what's been happening
across the country over the last
few months. Supply shortages have
slowed this process way down.
Starting with the most universal
thing required for this type of
test, the swab. (Collecting the
>> So let's focus on the swab.
(It is essential to use correct
technique when collecting...)
These aren't like the ones you
probably have at home.
>> The ones used for coronavirus
testing are called
nasalpharyngeal swabs, and
they're considered medical
devices. They have to be long
enough and flexible enough to get
all the way through your nose to
the back of your throat. And the
material in the end can't be
cotton because cotton contains
its own genetic material, which
could interfere with the genetic
testing for the virus.
>> Back in February, health
experts and governors started
warning of a swab shortage.
>> The problem is swabs. You
know, I've spent half of my day
today trying to get a straight
answer from the CDC and the
federal government and FEMA. When
can we expect swabs?
>> The U.S. government does have
an emergency stockpile of medical
supplies, but that stockpile
doesn't include swabs. Plus,
before the pandemic. There were
only two major manufacturers of
these swabs in the whole world.
One was Puritan medical products
in Maine and the other was Copan
Diagnostics in Italy. Since
mid-March, the U.S. government
has gotten millions of swabs from
the Italian company, but that
still didn't meet demand. A
federal contract to up production
from the American company didn't
come till more than a month
later.
>> This is what it's about.
>> On April 19th, President Trump
said he would use the Defense
Production Act to make more
swabs. That's a Cold War era law
that gives the president
emergency control over domestic
industries. On April 29, the
government said it had given a
seventy five million dollar
contract to Puritan to make more
swabs. There's no clear consensus
on how much coronavirus testing
we should actually be doing and
how many swabs that would take.
But there is a shortage and it's
being addressed on multiple
fronts. The largest maker of
household cotton swabs, U.S.
cotton in Ohio, is converting a
plant to make a synthetic
variety. The FDA has approved
more types of swabs and some are
being produced on 3D printers and
new types of tests are being
invented. The FDA recently
approved a saliva test that
doesn't require a swab, but right
now, the swab test is still the
most common way to identify an
active infection. So swab
shortages and shortages of other
supplies like the chemicals
needed in the next few stages of
testing can slow down the whole
process. Widespread testing is
key to reopening the country in a
safe way. But to get to that
point, we're going to need more
swabs.
