JF

There’s a shortage of swabs and reagents for test kits. But apparently the labs say they are getting more of those in. What’s constraining them are the giant “Liquid Handling Robots.” (I suspected we were all in a horror film & the presence of robots confirms it.) 7/

The biggest maker of these robots is a company called Roche. Their monster robot is called the 6800. It can process the most tests. Other companies ThermoFisher, Abbott, Helogic. Robot makers. So I asked why can’t we make more robots? How many are there? 8/

So Roche makes these robots (6800 produces 50/hour and the granddaddy robot 8800 produces 120/hour). There are 700 of the monster & 130 of the granddaddy. But before you start doing all kinds of math, only 110 are in the US. I think but don’t know that most are the smaller. 9/

Interrupted by a call from an scientist Will disclose who if he allows me to. But give me 15 mins. 10/

I’m back and I feel dumber than ever. The person I was talking to was the exact opposite of dumb (that’s a clue). 11/

So we won’t have all the tests we want unless we create some different tests. http://Cepheid.com  was just given emergency approval. Test can be given in pharmacies & doctor offices. Will try to find out tomorrow how much volume they can do. /12 https://www.cepheid.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw3-bzBRBhEiwAgnnLCnETgUswvjdQGjrgVpyD26oeNbYkRU7SivvvqqYRHcJ09g5Zowy--BoCGJMQAvD_BwE …

Congress I’m it’s bill is deciding how to pay for those tests. My suggestion to both sides is to pay for it the same as we paid for the Zika test. $52 at a minimum. And then deploy the DAMN Defense Production Act already. We will have more tests that way which is the goal. /13

The controversy was Republican Senators didn’t want to pay a rate that had the word Medicare in it. Speaking of Congress. Lots of time between drafts but at the minute the Republican draft just came over to Democrats. But they’re close. /14