This archive report was first published on 20 August 2021.
Published on August 20, 2021, Abbott's Covid-19 test production has been facing unprecedented challenges. The company's public affairs director, Aly Morici, acknowledged in an email that scaling up production quickly is difficult, but they are doing so again.
Abbott invited workers back to the plant in Maine this month to address 'unexpected manufacturing needs.' However, employees would have to forgo weeks of being paid for doing no work, as per their severance packages, with only a two-week 'thank you' pay extension and no guarantee of job security.
Contrary to the current situation, Abbott was not in this position in early 2020. The company assembled a team of about 100 scientists, supply-chain experts, and engineers to design BinaxNOW, a highly reliable Covid-19 test, in a highly compressed time frame. 'Everybody was working nonstop,' said Mr. Ford. 'This is ultimately what Abbott was built for.'
BinaxNOW is a rapid test that delivers results on the spot, allowing companies or schools to take immediate action. The test strip resembles a pregnancy stick and is less sensitive than PCR but provides quick results.
After receiving emergency authorization from the F.D.A. in August 2020, the U.S. government announced plans to buy 150 million BinaxNOW tests for $760 million, or $5 per test, plus shipping, to be used in settings including nursing homes and schools.
Friendship Public Charter School in Washington received 20,000 government-purchased BinaxNOW tests free of charge as part of a pilot program supported by the Rockefeller Foundation. Patricia A. Brantley, the school's chief executive, said that 70 percent of students' parents opted in for them to undergo weekly testing. Children as young as 3 submitted to a swipe in the nose in exchange for a sticker.
Northwestern University also adopted BinaxNOW early, testing students twice a week. The university performed up to 5,000 rapid tests a day, according to Luke Figora, the school's vice president for operations.
