Texas-based Prestige Ameritech Ltd. nearly went out of business as a result of boosting production before demand faded, said owner Mike Bowen. The company laid off 150 of its 250 employees.
In 2014, CDC officials met with about 10 manufacturers to discuss worrisome data the officials were getting about capacity. Even in the most conservative scenario for a pandemic, the U.S. would need 1.7 billion to 3.5 billion respirators, and would need 7.3 billion in the highest-demand scenario, according to models the CDC reported the next year. That was far above stocks and U.S. manufacturing capacity.
The CDC officials explored possible solutions, such as having the manufacturers maintain stockpiles, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Manufacturing executives say companies were leery because of their experience in 2009. Some faulted a lack of a commitment by government and hospitals to buy domestically made masks.
“Everybody calls me when they can’t get masks,” said Mr. Bowen of Prestige Ameritech. “When everything goes back to normal, everyone goes back to the foreign masks.”
We heard that first on this thread