Review: California ordering 200 million masks a month

Review: California ordering 200 million masks a month

This newspaper article discusses how California is ordering 200 million masks (150 million N95 masks and 50 million surgical masks) per month  (which will cost nearly $1 billion a month) to protect California’s essential workers from coronavirus, and there is concern that other states will suffer shortages due to that order. Governor Newsom countered “We are not just looking at supplies in a scarce marketplace where it’s a zero-sum game, we are being additive.” Governor Newsom and New York Governor have complained about a procurement system where states are competing with other states and the federal government for supplies.

The California Legislature has “to authorize hundreds of millions of dollars for masks, starting with a $495 million allocation that relied on cobbling together funds from different state pots.” Private companies and nongovernmental organizations such as  Americares, McKesson, and Cardinal, and global procurement firms Big Mountain Development and JR Resources have been identified as potential suppliers.

California plans to also “work with federal authorities and a defense contractor to deploy technology allowing up to 80,000 masks a day to be prepared for a second use.”

|2020-04-09T08:57:54-04:00April 9th, 2020|COVID-19 Literature|Comments Off on Review: California ordering 200 million masks a month

About the Author: Seema Mohapatra

Seema Mohapatra
Seema Mohapatra is an Associate Professor of Law and Dean's Fellow at the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law, She teaches Introduction to Health Care Law and Policy, Genetics and the Law, Torts, and Bioethics and the Law. Seema Mohapatra is an expert in the areas of health care law, public health law, bioethics, torts, and international health and family law. Her research interests include the intersection of biosciences and the law, assisted reproduction and surrogacy, international family and health law, health care disparities in the United States, and informed consent. Her work has been published in several journals, including the Wake Forest Law Review, Colorado Law Review, Brooklyn Law Review, and the Harvard Journal of Law & Policy. Professor Mohapatra currently teaches Torts, Introduction to Health Care Law, Bioethics, and Genetics and the Law. She has authored articles and book chapters on topics such as insurance coverage of infertility and assisted reproduction, genetics and health privacy, international surrogacy laws, and equity in healthcare coverage. Professor Mohapatra regularly presents her research nationally and internationally at legal and medical conferences and symposia. Prior to teaching, Professor Mohapatra practiced health law in Chicago at Sidley & Austin and Foley & Lardner. She earned a J.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Law and has a master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Chronic Disease Epidemiology from Yale University. She earned a bachelor of arts in Natural Sciences (with a minor in Women's Studies) from Johns Hopkins University.

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