Supply Chain

Chicago-based CommonSpirit Health said Sept. 8 it is opening a lab to more than triple its current COVID-19 testing capacity. 

A testing lab in Boston paused COVID-19 testing after an investigation by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health found nearly 400 false positive results, NBC News reported.

Public health experts say it's better to get fast and frequent results from COVID-19 tests that may be less accurate than to get more precise results that take several days, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

As elective procedures are now fully underway after a backlog of delayed surgeries due to COVID-19, improving OR turnover speed is more important than ever before.

Roche said Sept. 4 it has received emergency authorization from the FDA for its nasal swab test that detects the flu and COVID-19 and differentiates between the two viruses. 

Two leading COVID-19 vaccines in late-stage testing must be stored at ultracold temperatures, but hospitals, pharmacies and physicians' offices expected to be vaccination sites have few freezers to accommodate such temperatures, The Wall Street Journal reported. 

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

The National Institutes of Health said Sept. 2 that it is giving $129.3 million to nine companies to scale up manufacturing of COVID-19 tests. 

HHS will begin distributing Abbott's 15-minute COVID-19 test to states in mid-September and will let states decide how to use them, The Hill reported. 

HHS is terminating contracts with ventilator makers as it says the national stockpile is now full, The Hill reported.