FDA commissioner: Formula supply could improve "within days"

• "Within days it will get better, but it will be a few weeks until we’re back to normal," Califf said.

Catch up fast: The U.S. has wrestled with a nationwide baby formula shortage due to pandemic-induced supply chain issues and a recent product recall.

• Retailers across the country have reported roughly 40% of baby formula is missing from store shelves.
• The House voted Wednesday to pass an emergency spending bill to give the FDA $28 million to help address the shortage and hire more inspectors to move formula into stores faster. The Senate still must take up the measure.

Background: While supply chain issues stymied formula production, the problem worsened earlier this year when Abbott Nutrition shuttered a Michigan plant that is crucial to providing the country’s formula supply.

• A suspected link to the deaths of two infants from bacterial infections prompted the closure. The company has said that it found “no evidence” linking its formula to the illnesses.
• The FDA is still investigating, Califf told lawmakers Thursday, noting the agency's inspection of the facility in late January found “significant operational deficiencies.”

• The FDA and Abbott reached a deal earlier this week to reopen the plant, but it will still be several more weeks before production can put formula in stores.
• “I think we are on track to get it open within the next week to two weeks," Califf said of the factory.

Zoom out: In his testimony, Califf declined to answer questions from committee members about why the agency did not follow up sooner on a whistleblower's complaint outlining issues at the factory last fall.

Go deeper... Biden invokes Defense Production Act to address baby formula shortage