Midyear Impact at a Glance
A Note From Our Executive Director
Last week, I represented Healthcare Ready on a panel at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s 11th Annual Building Resilience Through Public-Private Partnerships conference in Washington DC on the topic of, “How Will We Improve Pandemic Preparedness through Private-Public Partnerships?” In this panel, I argued that successful recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will incorporate the lessons of resiliency that have been hard-learned over the past few years. The most effective response, recovery, resiliency and preparedness phases are actually when all are done concurrently. The complexity of compounding emergencies demands a level of multitasking that must become as routine as it is reflexive.
As the world faces another public health emergency, this time in the form of monkeypox, it is critical that all stakeholders quickly reflect on and implement successful response strategies while continuing to build resilience to pandemic impacts. When the pandemic started, it was immediately apparent that healthcare stakeholders across healthcare disciplines lacked a forum they could turn to for information exchange to and from different levels of government. That’s when FEMA engaged us to build the Supply Chain Data Tower, and we stood up the Healthcare Ready COVID-19 Task Force, a space where manufacturers, suppliers, healthcare systems (e.g., hospitals), and government could come together to deliberate, source, and solve problems around critical issues in the supply chain that threatened to halt the Nation’s ability to test, treat, and prevent the disease from spreading.
Healthcare Ready continues to advocate for strong public-private partnerships throughout the emergency management cycle. Health emergencies no longer have a clearly defined beginning, middle, or end- if they ever did. Compounding and chronic health emergencies are the status quo. The health sector cannot wait for the periods between emergencies to begin conversations around recovery or resiliency- that space doesn’t exist. Instead, a comprehensive and wholistic approach to emergency management is developing that places preparedness and resiliency as year-round activities independent of the yearly rhythm of response.
Ultimately, this requires greater investment in all phases of emergency management, but it also is creating opportunity for more seats at the table. The “public” side of public-private partnership should include individual people from communities – and not just in advisory positions, but as leaders and equals in partnership. Our National Preparedness Poll data reflects the need for leadership from underserved communities. This broader definition of “public” allows for more touchpoints for the private sector, and will pay dividends towards advancing health equity as communities big and small respond to, recover from and prepare for health emergencies.
Impact
Domestic Preparedness Poll: This year’s Healthcare Ready's Domestic Preparedness Poll found that less than half (40%) of Americans have an emergency plan in place to protect them and loved ones in case of disaster. Of Americans who rely on regular medications or medical equipment, nearly half (49%) could go no more than one week before facing a personal medical crisis. The national poll, held annually, provides insights into how different communities perceive and prepare for disasters that could disrupt access to healthcare or critical infrastructure systems powering healthcare systems. Click here to access findings for 2022 and past years.
ARCHER: With support from the Centene Foundation for Quality Healthcare and in partnership with ACU, we launched a series of disaster preparedness trainings for community health center staff at all levels. Topics covered, included: Crisis communications, ways to strengthen community partnerships, communicating the business case for strategic investment in emergency preparedness, intro to requirements for the CMS Emergency Preparedness Final Rule, and more. See past trainings and access disaster-related resources in our Resource Center.
Community Disaster Resilience Tool (CDRT): With the help from our council of experts and the Walmart Foundation, Healthcare Ready released the Community Disaster Resilience tool, a map-based resource that illustrates the overlapping community vulnerabilities between chronic conditions, healthcare infrastructure, natural hazards, and population demographics. The tool was released in January this year.
Monitoring Monkeypox: Following the World Health Organization’s declaration of monkeypox as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, Healthcare Ready is at ENGAGED status to respond to the monkeypox outbreak. We are releasing weekly situation reports regarding healthcare supply chain needs for treatment and prevention of the disease. As we have seen from the past few years of responses, there should continue to be a focus on combatting communication challenges, lack of access for tests, lack of available vaccines, and stigma. Ensuring that supplies for vaccines, testing, and treatment will be available in sufficient quantities to contain the outbreak will require a thoughtful and coordinated approach to ensure high risk, vulnerable communities, and other historically underserved groups are appropriately prioritized. Our most recent monkeypox threat assessment includes detailed response considerations that may be useful for public health preparedness and emergency response coordinators. For more monkeypox updates, click here.
Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH): Healthcare Ready is excited to have partnered with ASPR TRACIE to release DASH, a tool that can be used to estimate supplies that may need to be immediately available in mass casualty incidents and infectious disease emergencies based on hospital characteristics! ASPR will host a webinar to explain the use and capabilities of the tool on August 15. To register, click here.
Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color (IC3): Healthcare Ready participated in the 2022 Preparedness Summit, Reimagining Preparedness in the Era of COVID-19. Reflecting on lessons learned from current and previous responses, Healthcare Ready presented on CDRT and the Impact of COVID-19 on Communities of Color (IC3) Project. Funded by the Walmart Foundation, the project aimed to recognize the disproportionate risk and impact on communities of color from the COVID-19 pandemic and to shed on the concerns and needs of communities in greatest need in order to address disparities in the response (and outcomes) of the pandemic.
2022 Supply chain panel: In early March, Programs Manager, Courtney Romolt spoke at the annual HDA conference on a panel titled, “Coordinating During Crises: Effective Partnerships for Supply Chain Resilience.” Panelists discussed partnerships that were in place prior to COVID-19, lessons learned, and relationships forged over the past two years, and the transition from COVID-19 response to recovery and preparing for future events that may affect supply chain resilience.
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COVID-19 Update
The World at a Glance: As of July 2022, the number of new COVID-19 cases has increased after a declining trend in the last peak in March of this year. During the first week of July, 5.7 million new cases were reported, a 6% increase compared to previous weeks.
The United States at a Glance: On July 25, the Biden administration announced the restructuring of the Health and Human Services (HHS) in hopes of creating an independent division that could lead the United States’ pandemic responses. The change would advance a 1,000-person team, currently known as the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) into its own division, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response, charged with coordinating the nation’s response to health emergencies. The change would allow the division to “to mobilize a coordinated national response more quickly and stably during future disasters and emergencies while equipping us with greater hiring and contracting capabilities.”
As of July 15, the US Department of Health Services Secretary, Xavier Becerra, extended the COVID-19 public health emergency declaration through October 13, 2022. The declaration provides necessary capabilities for hospitals to ensure better care for patients in the midst of increased hospitalizations. The declaration has been in effect since January 2020 and has been renewed due to the rising Omicron variant, BA.5.
On July 12, The Biden Administration introduced a strategy to manage the rising omicron variant, BA.5. The strategies are outlined through a factsheet that can ensure the U.S population continues to have access to tools that prevent, protect against, and treat serious illnesses such as COVID-19. In order to address the BA.5 variant, the Biden administration will continue to work with state and local leaders, the private sector, healthcare workers, and community and faith-based orgs to ensure the US population continued to have safe, easy access to vaccines, testing, and treatment.
The strategy includes:
- Easy access to vaccines and boosters
- Accessible access to COVID-19 treatments and increase provider and patient awareness
- Widely available free COVID-19 testing, including at home tests.
- The availability of free high-quality masks widely and communicate clear recommendations about when people should consider masking:
- Prioritized protections for immunocompromised individuals
- Encouraging all building owners to improve indoor ventilation
- Providing the latest information on COVID-19, where to access vaccines, treatments, tests, and masks.
Monkeypox Update
As of July 28, there are more than 1.1 million available JYNNEOS vaccine doses, an FDA-licensed vaccine indicated for prevention of smallpox and monkeypox. The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced plans to allocate an additional 786,000 doses of the JYNNEOS vaccine doses to states and jurisdictions, which will substantially increase the supply of monkeypox vaccine doses to states and jurisdictions. For more information regarding vaccines, treatment, and prevention visit our Monkeypox resource page.
On July 23, 2022, the World Health Organization declared that the increased spread of the monkeypox infection constituted a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). To date, only seven other PHEICs have been declared; a PHEIC is the highest public health declaration that can be issued by the World Health Organization. The last PHEIC declaration prior to monkeypox was that for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Therapeutics Update
As of July 15, China has given conditional approval to Biotech's HIV Azvudine pill to treat certain adult patients with ‘normal-type’ COVID-19, a term used to distinguish patients who have not reached a severe state of the coronavirus infection. Represented In a clinical trial, 40.4% of patients that took Azvudine showed improvement in symptoms a week after taking the drug. The addition adds one other oral treatment option against the coronavirus.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) revised the Emergency Use Authorization for Paxlovid, a COVID-19 therapeutic authorized for the treatment of moderate COVID-19 symptoms in adults and pediatric patients. The EUA has authorized pharmacists to prescribe Paxlovid to patients with certain limitations to ensure appropriate use.
As of July 13, the Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine, adjuvanted meets the statutory criteria for the issuance of an emergency use authorization (EUA). The US Food and Drug Administration issued an EUA for the Novavaxx COVID-19 vaccine, adjuvanted, for individuals 18 years and older. The vaccine, containing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the Matrix-M adjuvant, is administered as a two-dose series, and is to be administered three weeks apart. The EUA will be in effect until “declaration that circumstances exist justifying the authorization of the emergency use of drugs and biologics for prevention and treatment of COVID-19 is terminated.”
Supply Chain Update
The senate has passed a bipartisan bill on July 27 that would provide over $50 billion dollars in subsidies to domestic semiconductor manufactures to incentivize construction aiming to strengthen the United States’ competitiveness and self-reliance. The bill is a part of a $280 billion “Chips and Science Act” and would be used in a wide variety of products such as cell phones, medical equipment, motor vehicles and military weapons.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine previously conducted an ad hoc committee to examine the security of the nation’s medical product supply chain. In response to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), the committee released a report, Building Resilience into the Nation's Medical Product Supply Chains, that examines the root causes of medical product shortages, outlines a framework of protection, and identifies ways to enhance resilience during ‘blue skies’ and public health emergencies.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated the medical device shortage list and have added two new medical devices, Automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and Chest drains/suction canisters and autotransfusion systems. The FDA frequently publishes a public shortage list for those who use or purchase medical devices and is maintained and updated as the COVID-19 public health emergency evolves.
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Public Health and Community Engagement
July 8, President Biden signed and released an executive order with the intent to protect access to reproductive health services and patient privacy, safeguard access to medication abortion and emergency contraception, and strengthen security public education efforts as well as bolster the security of and the legal options available to those seeking and providing abortion services.
The 10-digit National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a 24/7 crisis care line focused on suicide prevention and mental health crisis, has transitioned to 988. The change took place on July 16, as apart of $432 million effort to scale crisis center capacity and to address the nations mental health crisis and is seen as top priority according to the US Health and Human Services (HHS).
FEMA has released a list of new programs covered under the Justice40 Act, an act that was formulated to strengthen FEMA’s commitment to safeguard quick and equitable distribution of funds for disadvantaged communities. The added programs intend to deliver 40% of the overall benefits of sustainable housing, clean energy, and other investments to underserved communities that are overburdened by pollution, underinvestment in housing, water, healthcare, and many others.
July is the start of hurricane season and FEMA, and AARP has released new resources to help emergency managers and officials protect older adults in the midst of disasters to mitigating the effects of extreme weather. FEMA and AARP released a guide, Guide to Expanding Mitigation: Making the Connection to Older Adults, which highlights the causes and effects of natural hazards on older adults and; the AARP Disasters Resilience Tool Kit, which features approaches for leaders and community advocates to lower risks for vulnerable community members.
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Healthcare Ready spoke at the Chamber of Commerce’s’ 11th Annual Building Disaster Resilience on July 28. The conference brought together key players from government, nonprofits, and the private sector who shared their perspectives on the need for readiness strategies to improve resilience. The conference serves as roundtable for key players from government, nonprofits, and the private sector to discuss how drive effective resilience programming can be accomplished through greater collaboration across sectors.
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August is national immunization awareness month, a month dedicated to increasing vaccine awareness and highlighting the importance of vaccination for people of all ages.
On Aug. 4, FEMA will begin its 2022 Hazard Mitigation Assistance Summer Engagement Series, a 10-part series that will feature experts in the field and guest that can speak to the hazard Mitigation grant program, the Building Resilient infrastructure and Communities program and the Flood Mitigation Assistance programs. The webinars are designed for regional leaders and key stakeholders in states, local communities, tribes and territories and other interested individuals to learn more about the grant programs and grant application strategies. For more information, click here.
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COVID-19
Preparedness
Disaster Response & Recovery
Public Health
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Introduction to the Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH) Tool
August 15, 2022, ~ 11:30am-12:30pm ET
Virtual
Register here
2022 ACU Conference, Resilience & Transformation in Care (ACU)
July 31-August 2
Hybrid Event - Washington, DC
Register here
NAACOS 2022 Webinar: Healthier Patients and Bottom Line: A real journey to value
August 10, 2022, 2:00pm - 3:00pm (EDT)
Online Event
Register here
2022 National Community Emergency Response Team Conference
August 18- August 20
In person – Galveston Texas
Register here
2022 Traceability Webinar Series: Just-in-Time Review for 2023: Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) education for dispensers.
August 11 – September 29
Online
Register here
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