The American Red Cross is worried it may face a significant blood shortage heading into summer, Tucson, Ariz.-based ABC affiliate KGUN-TV reported May 6. 

Eight states and multiple local health departments and officials say vaccine kits from the federal government contain an insufficient number of low-dead-space syringes, which help extract every last COVID-19 vaccine dose from vials, reports The Wall Street Journal.

The world needs to reassess its current COVID-19 vaccination strategy to accelerate manufacturing and more equitably distribute vaccine supplies globally, two experts wrote in an article published May 6 in Harvard Business Review.

A division of the CDC said May 4 it has revoked the emergency use authorization for Plastikon Industries' N95 mask. 

Front-line healthcare workers in Minnesota are seeing availability for N95 masks increase, according to a May 2 report published in the Star Tribune.

Medline said a three-year campaign that included a $1.5 billion investment in distribution centers and manufacturing capabilities has added hundreds of new jobs and expanded the medical supply maker's footprint.

Although useful healthcare knowledge exists in current data, it is often difficult to retrieve.

The FDA has revoked emergency use authorization for a system made by Battelle Memorial Institute to decontaminate N95 masks. 

New Orleans-based Ochsner Health is opening two personal protective equipment manufacturing facilities this year in Louisiana, the health system said May 3. 

Every year in May, we celebrate National Hospital Week . This allows an opportunity to highlight our hospitals, health systems, and healthcare workers and the innovative ways they are supporting the needs of their community members, especially through this pandemic. 

Medline is building a $75 million supply facility in St. Peters, Mo., near the St. Louis area, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported April 30. 

Medical device recalls, whether voluntary or mandated by the FDA, ensure patient safety. Here are six reported to the FDA since mid-April:

Bloodworks, a company that supplies 95 percent of blood to Pacific Northwest hospitals, has advised hospitals to conserve on-site blood supplies, as it can't keep hospital inventories full due to a steep decline in donations, The Daily News reports. 

Ten hospitals and health systems have posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

Five recent medical supply deals and acquisitions reported by Becker's Hospital Review since the end of March: 

The lack of a federal manufacturing strategy played a key role in the U.S. medical supply chain being unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., wrote in an April 28 opinion column published in The Hill. 

Innova Medical Group, a California-based antigen test maker, has acquired Pacific PPE Corp., an N95 mask manufacturer, the companies said April 26.

The U.S. will send medical supplies including personal protective equipment, testing kits and raw materials for COVID-19 vaccines to India as the country is experiencing a surge of new infections, the White House said April 25. 

U.S. hospitals create more than 29 pounds of waste per staffed bed per day. Health care delivery often puts the U.S. healthcare system in a juxtaposition of caring for the patient while harming the environment.

A clinically integrated supply chain breaks down key barriers between supply chain and clinical teams to deliver better patient care. However, many health systems don’t have an approach or a solution to help them establish their clinical integration goals, explained Christina Tosto, Vice President of WaveMark™ Supply Management & Workflow Solutions at ‎Cardinal Health.