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Colleagues in a program called rapid acceleration of diagnostics are working closely with these companies as well as they go through development stages. we remain committed and look forward to partnering them as they bring the products forward. >> senator collins. >> thank you. ms. o'connell, over the past two years congress has appropriated 82.6 billion dollars specifically for testing. in addition, we've given the department flexibility to use other sources of funding and yet as you've heard repeatedly today, our frustrated constituents cannot find rapid tests when they need them. this testi...

Be dead if you were unvaccinated. so when you look at every parameter, ten times, 17 times, 20 times, infection, hospitalization, death. >> ms. o'connell, i want to ask you a question about additional vaccine development. the current vaccines against covid, as was indicated by dr. fauci's answer, have been very successful in reducing deaths, severity of illnesses and hospital admissions. however, they've had more limited success in transmitting after breakthrough cases and the vaccines are not as durable as vaccines in other areas so we need booster shots to continue to protect against the vir...

We continue to look at the others and ways we can support them. nih colleagues are working closely with these companies as well as they go through the development stages. we remain very committed to the work these companies are doing and partner with them as they bring these products forward. >> senator collins. >> thank you. ms. o'connell, over the past two years congress has appropriated $82.6 billion specifically for testing. in addition, we've given the department flexibility to use other sources of funding. and yet as you've heard repeatedly today, our frustrated constituents cannot find ...

Schools open. final quick question for you, ms. o'connell. talking about in home tests. these are antigen tests. there is interesting rsearch about the ability to make pcr tests at home and there's companies, including one in connecticut, that believe with additional investment to bring those tests to scale, we could get pcr tests into families' hands at home in a cost that is at or below what companies are currently charing for antigen tests. >> we have worked closely with several manufacturers that you mentioned for these at-home pcr tests. we contracted with one of them and have reached 5 m...

O'connell. talking about in-home tests. a lot of focus on in-home tests today. antigen tests, there are some interesting research going on about the ability to make pcr tests available at home and there is companies all over the country including one in connecticut that believe that with some additional investment to bring those tests to scale we could get pcr tests into family's hands at home for a cost that is at or below what we're currently charging our companies are currently charging for antigen tests. is that a possibility? >> we share your interest in seeing as many tests available for...