"The Biden Administration has given one contract t
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So...what is going on..."
I think the $230M contract to Ellume was to finance building test kit capacity in the US. Per the article that capacity will be 19 million tests per month, but not until the end of 2021.
The purchase of tests from the 6 other sources was probably waiting for the approval of additional money, that was just approved. But those tests, only 61 million, are not suppose to be all delivered until the end of the summer. So Biden is not really pushing testing, just adding more money into the package in the name of Covid.
He is clearly pushing the vaccine and not testing at this time. He is buying/stockpiling more vaccine doses than needed, providing more money and federal support for more vaccination centers and staff, accelerating timelines like everyone eligible for vaccine by May 1, and a near normal goal by July 4th.
PV, I see no tie between what Biden is doing and the FDA not issuing an EUA for the Innova antigen test. The FDA's charter is to review and approve medical devices. As Mina keeps saying, mass testing is really a public health issue, not a medical diagnostic issue. So that has put the FDA in a bind. Maybe Biden could clear that up with an Executive Order.
Also remember that according to Biden, everything is now being done in accordance with the science.