The U.S. relies on China for 80 percent of the syringes and needles used to administer the new crown vaccine to its citizens, according to Chinese online media outlet Observer.
Three U.S. Department of Defense officials appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing recently, and Senator Inhofe, a Republican, asked Stacy A Cummings, acting undersecretary of defense for acquisition and assurance, “I was surprised to find – I think it was the U.S. Department of health and Public Service, that 80 percent of the syringes and needles that we use come from China. Is that data correct?”
Cummings confirmed that “that number is correct” because the Department of Defense assists the government’s Department of Health and Human Services in bringing those needles and syringes to the United States to support vaccination programs.
Cummings went on to answer that the U.S. can and should increase domestic production of these products in the future, for example by enabling laws and regulations such as the Defense Production Act to increase investment in syringe and needle production.
The Observer reports that this is not the first Time that U.S. politicians have been surprised by the extent of U.S. reliance on Chinese medical supplies. Back in April of last year, the New York governor told an Epidemic briefing, “We need masks from China, we need scrubs from China, we need protective masks from China, we need ventilators from China. Well, we’re past that stage, and now we’re at a new stage where we need testing agents, also from China, and how did that happen!”
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