Jason Sutherland, the national sales and marketing manager of the life science supplier Celtic Molecular Diagnostics in Mowbray, South Africa, writes to The Scientist in an email. “Every plastic consumable that is required to run RT-PCR tests such as plates and pipette tips are being used in abundance and many of the suppliers are battling to keep up with the demand.”

Lab gloves can be particularly hard to come by, adds Sutherland. For more than a year, his company has been unable to procure any from its regular supplier in Germany as the country has stopped exporting them to prioritize domestic needs.

Even when products are available on the global market, the pandemic is stalling their delivery. A general drop in air traffic as well as a global shortage of shipping containers have meant both delays and inflated delivery prices. Staff shortages at ports and a congestion of container ships may have exacerbated the issue in New Zealand

Basant Giri of the Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences who specializes in developing low-cost analytical technology, says he worries that this could have long-term effects on lab supplies. During a four-month lockdown that ended in July 2020, air traffic stalled. He’s had to wait months for specific reagents for enzyme assays or standard reference materials for drug and antibiotic testing

Tuberculosis researcher André Loxton of Stellenbosch University and the South Africa Medical Research Council’s Centre for Tuberculosis Research was able to source some items from colleagues. But he’s been waiting weeks for other products

“It would be nice if some of the big biotech and pharma supply companies would start having more backups in terms of warehouses or stockpiles better distributed around the world,” adds Hwa, “so we’re not waiting for every single thing to come all the way from Europe or all the way from China.”

Labs Worldwide Still Struggling Amid Broken Supply Chains - May 21, 2021