Patient examination gloves that meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards for use in protecting U.S. healthcare workers are considered critical personal protective equipment (PPE) for caring for patients with COVID-19 infections.
Replenishment Efforts
As part of the initial federal response to the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020, the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) deployed 90% of its PPE, including gloves, to supplement supplies held by states, large metropolitan areas, tribes and territories. This depletion of stockpiled inventory was compounded by an increase in patient care in healthcare settings. To meet demand, the Defense Logistics Agency, in partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary of Preparedness and Response (ASPR), began an aggressive effort to procure examination gloves for the SNS, with the overall goal of procuring 4.5 billion gloves to replenish stockpiled supplies.
New Glove Inventory
As a result of this procurement effort, the SNS now has vinyl/nitrile blend patient examination gloves currently in inventory and available to supplement state, local, tribal and territorial supplies if products cannot be sourced in the commercial marketplace. The vinyl/nitrile blend examination glove is an acceptable substitute for the nitrile examination glove.
The vinyl/nitrile blend examination glove is a new type of synthetic glove that was developed based on vinyl glove production technology. Its material is compounded with PVC paste and nitrile, so the finished product has the advantage of both materials. The vinyl/nitrile blend examination glove features include:
- FDA approved through a 510(k) premarket submission for patient examination gloves
- Meets American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) D5250 standards for vinyl gloves
- Ideal for low to moderate risk non-surgical healthcare settings
- Can be doubled for high-risk, non-surgical healthcare settings
- Powder free, latex free, non-sterile, single use
- Ambidextrous, beaded cuff
Product Specifications
| Size |
Median Length
(mm) |
Median Width
(mm) |
Palm Thickness (mm) |
Finger Thickness (mm |
| XS |
240 |
75 ±5 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
| S |
240 |
85±5 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
| M |
240 |
95±5 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
| L |
240 |
105±5 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
| XL |
240 |
115±5 |
0.08 |
0.08 |
Request Process
Healthcare facilities in need of personal protective equipment should first work through public health officials in their states, territories, tribal nations or large metropolitan areas to identify available supplies. If federal assistance is needed, the public health authority can submit a request through the normal processes. If the request is approved, ASPR will direct the SNS to deploy the needed supplies to the public health authority, which is then responsible for distributing to the facilities in need.
Public health authorities in need of assistance should contact their ASPR Regional Emergency Coordinator who can help facilitate this request to the HHS Secretary’s Operations Center. Learn more on how to request supplies from the SNS.
Contact Us
For questions on vinyl/nitrile gloves or other PPE, please contact the SNS Operations Center at
sns.ops@hhs.gov.
