Schadenfreude - from USA Today:
Fact check: Did the Obama administration deplete the federal stockpile of N95 masks?
As the novel coronavirus pandemic strains health care systems, questions around the U.S. government's response have circulated in the media and online.
On March 26, The Daily Wire published an article centering on the Obama administration’s role in using and allegedly failing to replenish the federal stockpile of N95 masks.
“The Obama administration significantly depleted the federal stockpile of N95 respirator masks to deal with the H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 and never rebuilt the stockpile despite calls to do so,” the piece begins.
And their verdict:
Our rating: True
We rate this claim TRUE because it is supported by our research. There is no indication that the Obama administration took significant steps to replenish the supply of N95 masks in the Strategic National Stockpile after it was depleted from repeated crises. Calls for action came from experts at the time concerned for the country’s ability to respond to future serious pandemics. Such recommendations were, for whatever reason, not heeded.
Our fact-check sources:
-
- Department of Health and Human Services, Strategic National Stockpile: History
- Government Accountability Office, 2003 Report on Public Health Capacity
- Health Security, Personal Protective Equipment Supply Chain: Lessons Learned from Recent Public Health Emergency Responses
- Homeland Security Council, 2005 National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza
- National Institute of Health, The Strategic National Stockpile: Origin, Policy Foundations, and Federal Context
- 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community
Yep - the lightbringer really screwed the pooch on this and many other issues. Deal with it - fine. Replenish and reset?
Oh look - a squirrel. The one thing he did really well? Kick the can down the road.
Leave a comment