NPR reports that a new holdup is emerging in SARS-CoV-2 testing: the machines on which tests are run.
It adds that labs are running into delays in getting their hands on machines that run hundreds of SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests at once. Three companies, Abbott Laboratories, Hologic, and Roche, tell NPR that demand for their machines is outpacing their supply. But while the three say they have been struggling to fill orders, they also say they are working to scale up production, it adds.
"Every available instrument, including instruments repurposed from internal use (such as training, demonstration, clinical trials), has been shipped or allocated for shipment in order to increase testing capacity worldwide," Mike Weist, a Roche spokesperson, tells NPR.
Hologic's Mike Watts notes there are more than 1,000 of its Panther machines in labs across the US.
Previously, testing abilities in the US have been affected by not only the availability of tests but also of reagents needed to run the tests as well as swabs to collect the samples for testing.