by Michael Conroe
Indianapolis (AP) — Enough specialty infant formula for more than half a million infant bottles arrived in Indianapolis on Sunday.
The formula, weighing 78,000 pounds (35,380 kg), was being transported by military aircraft, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at Air Force One as President Joe Biden flew from South Korea to Japan. Was.
It is the first of several flights from Europe carrying infant formula, which were expected later this week to address a deep shortage in the US. The flights were authorized by Biden.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Indianapolis to congratulate the arrival of the first shipment in Indianapolis.
The Biden administration – which has struggled to address shortages of formula nationwide, especially hypoallergenic varieties – has dubbed the effort “Operation Fly Formula.” The crisis comes after the nation’s largest home manufacturing plant closed in February due to safety issues in Michigan.
The White House has said that 132 pallets of Nestle Health Science Alfamino Infant and Alfamino Junior formulas were to leave Ramstein Air Base in Germany for the US and 114 pallets of Gerber Good Start Extensive HA Formula were expected to arrive in the coming days. About 1.5 million 8-ounce bottles of the three formulas are expected to arrive this week, which are hypoallergenic for babies with cow’s milk protein allergies.
Indianapolis was chosen because it is a Nestle distribution center. According to an on-site administration official, the formula will be unloaded in FedEx semitractor-trailers and transported to a Nestlé distribution center about a mile away, where the company will find a standard quality before distributing supplies to hospitals, pharmacies and doctor’s offices. Control checks. ,
Air Force planes are carrying the initial batch of Formula One as no commercial flights were available this weekend.
Brian Deez, the director of the White House National Economic Council, said on Sunday that the flight was the first to provide “some incremental relief in the coming days” as the government works on a more permanent response to the shortage.
Reese told CNN’s “State of the Union” that Sunday’s flight brought 15% of the special medical grade formula needed into the US, and that due to various actions by the government, people “will be allowed to enter stores starting this week”. More threads”. ,
In the long run, he said, the US needs more formula providers “so that no company has that much control over the supply chain.”
Under “Operation Fly Formula,” the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services are authorized to request Department of Defense support to take foreign infant formula that meets U.S. health and safety standards, so that it can be found on the shelves. store faster, according to the USDA.
AlphaMino is primarily available through hospitals and home health care companies that serve patients at home.
US regulators and the manufacturer, Abbott Nutrition, expect the Michigan plant to reopen next week, but it will take about two months for the product to be ready for delivery. The Food and Drug Administration this week eased import requirements for baby formula to ease supply shortages, which have left some brands’ store shelves left and some retailers nervous about feeding their babies. Ration is supplied for the parents.
