The Strategic Nationwide Stockpile, the nation’s huge medicine cabinet, spelled out : NPR

Surges in COVID-19, the flu and other respiratory diseases are forcing the U.S. authorities to do some thing it normally reserves for emergencies: launch hoards of stockpiled Tamiflu to states in dire want of more flu drugs.

The move from the Division of Wellbeing and Human Expert services on Wednesday arrived via the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS), which permits the government to tap its reserves of medication and other health-related provides when a mass outbreak or other health and fitness disaster happens.

It can be accurate. There is a network of warehouses, each individual the dimension of a number of Walmart Supercenters, found in prime-solution destinations across the nation. And when a lot about the stockpile remains a magic formula, it carries on to enjoy a critical position in the COVID pandemic.

Here’s what we know about the multibillion-dollar inventory of vaccines, devices and other health care provides made to aid preserve lives.

What kind of supplies does the SNS stockpile?

In brief, quite significantly any health-related provides that could be useful throughout a mass outbreak or well being disaster.

The Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), a division of HHS, details some of the stock on its internet site:

There are 1,960 containers of nerve agent antidotes, known as chempacks, in circumstance of a chemical incident, in much more than 1,340 destinations, these kinds of as fireplace stations and hospitals, across the U.S. Much more than 90% of Individuals live in just an hour of just one of these locations, according to ASPR.

If a normal catastrophe or a further catastrophe impacts the variety of hospitals or quantities of medical devices obtainable, the SNS can deploy “promptly deployable caches” that appear with a mattress and other medical supplies. Each of these federal clinical stations can dwelling 50 to 250 clients and arrives with adequate pharmaceutical supplies to final for three times.

The SNS also claims it has “tens of millions of masks, gloves, robes, N95 respirators, confront shields and other important materials” and 16 unique types of ventilators at the ready for these with COVID.

What is the level of stockpiling so a lot drugs?

The SNS is intended to be there in situation we want it. By owning so lots of clinical supplies in its reserves, the nation is intended to aid when regional companies operate out, or when enormous amounts of healthcare provides are necessary at a moment’s notice.

The SNS “serves as the nation’s repository of medicines and supplies for use if there is a community health crisis, these kinds of as a terrorist attack, flu outbreak, or purely natural disaster, severe more than enough to bring about regional materials to run out,” in accordance to the Facilities for Sickness Management and Prevention.

When did the U.S. federal government start out accomplishing this?

Congress authorized the development of the SNS, then regarded as the Countrywide Pharmaceutical Stockpile, in 1999, the CDC suggests.

The federal government initially created the SNS to combat chemical or biological attacks. It has due to the fact been used to support with outbreaks, such as the Ebola virus and monkeypox (now named mpox), but officials started to consider note of its use when the pandemic led to drastic shortages of crucial medical materials.

But despite its development, funds cuts, problems with the world wide offer chain and production complications made the SNS sick-geared up to offer with the pandemic, in accordance to an NPR investigation. Even nine months into the pandemic, the investigation observed, the SNS even now lacked significant healthcare supplies.

Most not long ago, an October 2022 report from the U.S. Govt Accountability Business located that the SNS unsuccessful to supply the country with plenty of sources to struggle the pandemic.

“The COVID-19 reaction has also been a catalyst for HHS to re-look at SNS functions, such as the role, duties, experience, and stock necessary going forward,” the GAO report mentioned.

What do we know about these warehouses?

Think about a substantial warehouse loaded with shelves and shelves of health care provides as much as the eye can see.

The destinations of the warehouses are a top secret. But above the several years, officials have shared some details about their dimension — and inventory.

In 2016, NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce was supplied a look at 1 of the large warehouses. Greg Burel, then the SNS director, advised her that the stockpile inventory was worthy of about $7 billion — a sizable maximize from the allotted budget of $50 million back again in 1999.