‘Operation Fly Formula’ aims to tackle the national shortage crisis
The US government has allowed powdered infant milk imports from the UK, the Food and Drug Administration announced in a statement on Tuesday, as the country is grappling with a severe shortage.
British family-owned company Kendal Nutricare will deliver around 2 million cans of Kendamil brand formula to the US by June, the FDA said. According to The Guardian newspaper, 100 truckloads of powdered milk – which was used by the royal family to wean Prince Louis of Cambridge – will be sent.
“We continue to do everything in our power as part of the all-of-government efforts to ensure there’s adequate infant formula available wherever and whenever parents and caregivers need it,” said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. Roughly 40% of baby formula products are out of stock nationwide, data shows.
Last week, the White House eased import requirements and announced an effort to transport baby milk from abroad dubbed ‘Operation Fly Formula’. The US normally produces 98% of the infant formula it consumes, with imports mainly coming from Mexico, Ireland and the Netherlands. Companies seeking to enter the US market face formidable hurdles, such as rigorous research and manufacturing standards imposed by the FDA.
On Sunday, a military plane carrying enough powdered milk to fill half a million baby bottles arrived in the US from Germany. The delivery of the Nestle-made formula is expected to cover about 15% of the nationwide shortage.
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US baby formula shortage is a symptom of a broken system
The baby formula shortage began to take hold in the US last year amid supply chain issues caused by the pandemic. However, the situation deteriorated in February when Abbott Laboratories, one of the nation’s main manufacturers, recalled some of its products and shut down a manufacturing plant after four babies who had been fed formula made at the facility contracted a rare bacterial infection. Two of them later died.
Abbott said last week that after investigations by the FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and by the company itself, no conclusive evidence was found to link its formulas to those incidents. The plant is now set to reopen in early June.
Washington is trying to prevent Moscow from servicing its sovereign debt
The latest US decision to not extend the general license waiver that allows Russia to make sovereign debt payments is an attempt to force the sanctions-hit nation into an “artificial default,” according to Kyle Shostak, the director & CEO at Navigator Principal Investors.
The move will “effectively turn Russia’s liabilities to the category of default as it is commonly understood and interpreted by international rating agencies,” Shostak said in an interview with TASS.
“This situation can be called nothing but enforcement of an artificial default, as Russia now has enough funds to service its external debt.”
On Tuesday, the US Treasury Department announced that it would not extend the sanctions waiver that allowed Russia to make sovereign debt payments to American investors, in a move officials previously said would cause Moscow to be in a technical default on its debt obligations. The license waiver expired at 04:01am GMT on Wednesday.
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US tries to force Russian default
According to Shostak, Russia could theoretically service the debt in euros, pounds, or Swiss francs, but these payments are difficult to process, due to the position of banks that could block them over fears of being accused of violating sanctions.
“If attempts to provide payments in foreign currencies are unsuccessful, the Russian Ministry of Finance will offer creditors [the opportunity] to open ruble accounts,” he said.
Commenting on the latest news, Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said Moscow plans to make foreign debt payments in rubles, adding that the country has all the necessary monetary resources for payments.
“The US and the satellites supporting Washington’s decisions should get used to the ruble,” Volodin said on his Telegram channel on Wednesday, citing Russia’s experience requiring ruble payments for gas shipments as an example of how settlements could work.
This is part of WTOP’s coverage of the Delmarva beaches leading into the summer season. Read more.
More people than ever are visiting the Delmarva beaches during the summer. That increased popularity, combined with post-pandemic realities facing the hospitality industry, have created more challenges for the local economy.
Carol Everhart, with the Rehoboth Beach-Dewey Beach Chamber of Commerce, said she could make a ton of money making signs that read “Now Hiring All Positions.”
“We do have a tremendous staffing shortage,” Everhart said.
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More from WTOP’s Summer Beach Guide
Like many places in the country, she said filling restaurant and retail openings in Rehoboth has become harder to do.
“It’s not just restaurants,” Everhart said. “The shortages in people and the shortages in supplies — it’s tremendous. Every industry we have has a staffing shortage. And every industry we have is saying, if it’s not a shortage, it’s a limited supply.”
In Lewes, Delaware, along the calm waters of Delaware Bay, the beaches will be without lifeguards for the first time in years.
“We had a total of four applicants,” said City Manager Ann Marie Townshend. “We usually have 10 lifeguards. Two of the applicants that we had have never guarded before, so this would be their first time.”
Townshend said the applicant shortage is still happening, even after the city hiked the hourly pay rate to over $16 per hour.
“It’s not something we take lightly, and it’s not something we’re at all happy about,” she said. “We did not think it was appropriate to try to guard the beaches with an insufficient number and insufficiently experienced lifeguards and give the people a sense that the beaches is more professionally guarded than it is.”
What does that mean for people swimming in Delaware Bay?
“Families need to keep eyes on their kids,” she said. “Look for people. It’s not just kids who can sometimes have issues.”
Businesses on the move
Nicola Pizza in Rehoboth Beach, DE. (Photo WTOP / Luke Lukert)
It’s not just workers who are leaving businesses at the beach. Some businesses themselves are moving away from the downtown areas.
The Frogg Pond, a mainstay in downtown Rehoboth for decades, has moved to a new location on Coastal Highway between Rehoboth and Lewes.
And this will be the last summer you’ll find Nicola Pizza operating in downtown Rehoboth. It’s moving toward Lewes, near the Five Points intersection, this fall.
“Some of the businesses have stated that parking is part of their problem,” said Everhart. “If I’m a customer and I can pull into a business or restaurant somewhere on Route 1, and not have to worry about parking, nor do I have to pay for parking, that’s very enticing to the customer.”
Nick Caggiano, whose parents opened Nicola Pizza in 1971, said he’s moving primarily because he owned the land in Lewes, and running back and forth between properties was too difficult during the summer.
Caggiano said that parking and the traffic aren’t the primary reasons for the move (he called them “the icing on the cake”), but he did acknowledge they can be a hindrance to his local customers and seasonal employees, who have been priced out of the area. He said the downtown property where his restaurants have been has already been sold.
Everhart said the business lobby has been pushing the city to open a big parking garage downtown to address these concerns. But city leaders and residents who own homes there are strongly against the idea. In fact, they see the relocation of businesses away from the downtown as a good thing.
“It’s really not because they were hurting or unsuccessful,” said Rehoboth Beach Mayor Stan Mills. “We believe it was because of their success. They were so successful, they wanted more parking. And in Rehoboth Beach, we’re limited on parking. Parking is a premium.
“It’s my belief they just wanted to go out of town, where parking is essentially more plentiful as well as free,” said Mills.
The housing problems Caggiano cited in Rehoboth are also being experienced in Ocean City.
“Finding seasonal housing is difficult, more difficult today than ever before,” said Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan. “During the pandemic … a lot of the property owners repurposed the units that had previously been for seasonal housing and made them rental properties. That took an awful lot of that type of housing out of the inventory.”
Meehan said some businesses have started providing housing to workers, but that it’s barely made a dent in the need.
Meanwhile, longer-term solutions are being sought. In the spring, Ocean City and Worcester County asked the State of Maryland to approve special, low-interest financing to help develop new housing for thousands of seasonal workers.
Meehan said town leaders have been working with Holtz Companies, which would build and operate the “dorm concept” housing project in West Ocean City.
“It’s probably a couple of years away,” he added.
In one proposed plan, Holtz would build and operate the facilities, while Ocean City would provide transportation back and forth.
“It would be a two or three-building complex and house anywhere from a thousand to 1,500 seasonal workers,” said Meehan.
Meehan estimated 3,000 to 3,500 beds are needed for seasonal workers in the area.
In addition, the number of foreign workers who used to come work in Ocean City every summer is down by around 3,000, compared to pre-pandemic levels. This means businesses are having a hard time hiring as well.
“That’s going to continue to put a strain on our local businesses,” Meehan admitted. But he also said many businesses are learning how to adjust.
“So we’re still going to have some help shortages, but I don’t think it’s going to be as noticeable as it might have been a year or so ago,” he said.
Teachers in Prince George’s County, Maryland, are asking for pay raises and a lightened workload, which they say has been overburdened by unnecessary paperwork and documentation.
Prince George’s County Public Schools and its teachers union — which represents about 10,000 educators — are in the midst of contract negotiations to replace its current contract, which expires June 30.
Both sides have agreed to negotiate a three-year contract, but they appear to be far apart over the level of pay raises.
“We are trying to increase teacher pay so that we have competitive salaries that are more in line with what it will take to fill all of these staffing shortages…we came back with 8% in the first year, 7% in the following two years, which is a little bit closer to where inflation is right now, and they came back with 4%; so we’re still quite a ways apart,” said Donna Christy, president of the Prince George’s County Educators’ Association.
“Right now, because of the pandemic, there’s staffing shortages everywhere, but this a problem that preceded the pandemic,” Christy said. “These staffing shortages have existed for a long time…there are over 800 vacancies just within our unit, 770 of those being classroom teachers.”The PGCEA also said that the county’s school system is burdened by chronic staffing shortages.
Another key bargaining issue for the union is the daily time allotted to teachers for them to plan lessons, which some say is often eaten up by growing administrative duties.
“The members of PGCEA are seeking manageable workloads that allow teachers to focus on our students and their successes while maintaining a healthy work-life balance,” Christy said.
