A shortage of desperately needed personal protective equipment generated by the coronavirus pandemic has driven an arms race among states, which are often more proactively partnering with nonprofits and the private sector to fortify their own reserves than they are with one another to equitably distribute supplies.
Government officials have warned that this competition will disproportionately benefit large, economically powerful states such as California and could potentially leave smaller states with smaller budgets wanting for life-saving equipment. But in absence of a federal price-controlling program, personal protective equipment bidding rages on.