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May 28 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense has signed a $2.2 million contract with Hollingsworth and Vose to produce 27.5 million N95 ventilator filters and 3.1 million N95 respirators per month starting in August. The deal, announced Thursday and facilitated by the DoD Joint Acquisition Task Force, uses funds authorized and appropriated under the CARES Act passed in April.
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It comes on the heels of the Pentagon's removal of its lead official responsible for executing the Defense Production Act to increase production of masks and other equipment to help contain the novel coronavirus -- as well as a string of deals intended to increase production of equipment in high demand due to the virus' spread.
They include a $134 million deal awarded in mid-May to the Federal Resources Supply Co. to provide personal protective equipment kits for medical personnel at more than 15,000 nursing home locations.
The same week ApiJect Systems America received a $138 million contract to create a ready supply chain for prefilled syringes when a COVID-19 vaccine is available, and several large contracts for mask production.
In early May, the DoD awarded a $126 million contract to 3M increase N95 mask production in October and a $133 million deal to 3M, O&M Halyward and Honeywell for mask production.
Battelle Memorial Institute was awarded $415 million in mid-April to decontaminate used N95 respirator systems amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Hollingsworth and Vose is based in East Walpole, Mass. Work on the new contract will be performed in Floyd, Va., according to the Pentagon.
