Greg Walden Releases Third and Final Pillar of Second Wave Project

Today, Representatives Greg Walden (R-OR), Republican Leader of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Brett Guthrie (R-KY) released a final report as part of Energy and Commerce Republicans’ Second Wave Preparedness Project. Today’s report makes many recommendations related to the health care supply chain.

Walden and Guthrie released the following statement on the new recommendations:

"During this pandemic all Americans, especially our frontline health care workers, have experienced the consequences of depending too much on foreign nations to meet our health care supply chain needs. It’s clearer than ever we must make the necessary policy changes and investments to incentivize domestic manufacturing of critical pharmaceuticals and other products. To prepare for a potential ‘second wave’ of COVID-19 infections, we need to improve coordination and management of our Strategic National Stockpile while also supporting states to strengthen their own stockpiles. As we approach flu season, we should encourage all Americans to protect themselves from the flu by getting vaccinated, and we should make testing more efficient by having tests readily available that can determine if a patient has COVID-19 or the flu. Now is the time to figure out how to put us in the best position to fight the Invisible Enemy in the fall and winter months. That is what our Second Wave Preparedness Project aims to do, and we’re proud of the work that has gone into this project,” said Walden and Guthrie.

The third report on health care supply chain can be found here.

The second report on vaccine and therapeutic recommendations can be found here.

The first report on testing and surveillance can be found here.