In the early days of the pandemic, the U.S. government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America
SUNDAY, MAY 10, 2020
It was Jan. 22, a day after the first case of covid-19 was detected in the United States, and orders were pouring into Michael Bowen's company outside Fort Worth, some from as far away as Hong Kong.
U.S. pays premium to third-party vendors for N95 masks
THURSDAY, APRIL 16, 2020
WASHINGTON - The Trump administration has awarded bulk contracts to third-party vendors in recent weeks in a scramble to obtain N95 respirator masks, and the government has paid the companies more than $5 per unit, nearly eight times what it would have spent in January and February when U.S. intelligence agencies warned of a looming global pandemic, procurement records show.