INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A military plane carrying enough special baby formula for more than half a million bottles arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday. the first of several flights expected from Europe in order to ease a shortage that has parents scrambling to find enough to feed their children.
President Joe Biden authorized the use of Air Force aircraft for the effort, dubbed “Operation Formula Fly,” because commercial flights were not available.
The formula weighed 78,000 pounds (35,380 kilograms), White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One as Biden flew from South Korea to Japan.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Indianapolis to greet the arrival of the first shipment.
The flights are intended to provide “some gradual relief over the next few days” as the administration works on a longer-lasting response to the shortage, Brian Deese, director of the White House National Economic Council, said on Sunday.
Deese told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Sunday’s flight brought in 15% of the specialized medical-grade formula needed in the US, and due to various government actions, people should see “more formula in stores starting this week. ”
Longer term, he said, the US needs more formula suppliers “so that no single company has as much control over supply chains.”
The Biden administration has struggled to address formula shortages across the country, particularly hypoallergenic varieties. The crisis follows the closure of the nation’s largest domestic manufacturing plant in Michigan in February due to security issues.
The White House has said that 132 popsicles of Nestlé Health Science Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior formula would leave Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the U.S. Another 114 popsicles of Gerber Good Start Extensive HA formula were expected to arrive in the next few weeks. days. In total, about 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of the three formulas, which are hypoallergenic for children with allergies to cow’s milk protein, are expected to arrive this week.
Indianapolis was chosen because it is a distribution center for Nestlé. The formula will be unloaded onto FedEx semi-trailers and taken to a Nestlé distribution center a mile away, where the company will conduct a standard quality control check before distributing the supplies to hospitals, pharmacies and doctors’ offices, according to a report. administration official on site. .
In a statement Sunday, the White House said a FedEx Express flight of Nestle SA formula from the Pentagon from Ramstein Air Force Base would be headed for a Nestle facility in Pennsylvania.
Nestle said it has worked “around the clock” in recent months to address formula shortages and help meet demand.
“We have significantly increased the number of our formulas available to consumers by ramping up production and accelerating general product availability to retailers and online, as well as through hospitals and home health care for the most vulnerable,” the company said. it’s a statement.
“At Nestlé we are absolutely committed to doing everything we can to ensure that parents and caregivers get the formula they need so their children can thrive,” he added. “We prioritized these products because they have a critical medical purpose, as they are for children with allergies to cow’s milk protein.”
Under “Operation Fly Formula,” the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services are authorized to request support from the Department of Defense to collect infant formula abroad that meets U.S. health and safety standards. ., so it can hit store shelves faster. according to the USDA.
Alfamino is primarily available through hospitals and home health care companies that care for patients at home.
US regulators and the manufacturer, Abbott Nutrition, hopes to reopen its Michigan plant next week, but it will take about two months before the product is ready for delivery. The Food and Drug Administration this week relaxed import requirements for baby formula to try to ease supply shortages, which have left store shelves empty of some brands and some retailers rationing supplies for parents nervous about feeding. to his children.
Reference-news.yahoo.com