The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) plays a critical role in protecting the United States from threats such as emerging infectious diseases, including the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and public health emergencies (PHEs). Following the emergence of COVID-19, FDA first issued guidance in April 2020 to provide a policy to help expand the availability of clinical electronic thermometers to address the PHE. At the time, FDA stated that the policy described in the guidance was intended to remain in effect only for the duration of the PHE related to COVID-19 declared by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in accordance with section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act). On March 13, 2023, FDA announced in the Federal Register notice “Guidance Documents Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19),” that the guidance document was being revised to continue in effect for 180 days after the expiration of the COVID-19 PHE declaration, and that, during that time, FDA would intend to further revise this guidance, among others. The policies described in this guidance take into account that the April 2020 version of the guidance is intended to remain in effect through November 7, 2023, unless superseded by a final guidance before that date.
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