Guidance Documents Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019; Availability

AGENCY:

Food and Drug Administration, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice of availability.

SUMMARY:

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of an FDA guidance document related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) public health emergency (PHE). This notice of availability (NOA) is pursuant to the process that FDA announced, in the Federal Register of March 25, 2020, for making available to the public COVID-19-related guidances. The guidance identified in this notice addresses issues related to the COVID-19 PHE and has been issued in accordance with the process announced in the March 25, 2020, notice. The guidance has been implemented without prior comment, but it remains subject to comment in accordance with the Agency's good guidance practices.

DATES:

The announcement of the guidance is published in the Federal Register on April 22, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

You may submit either electronic or written comments on Agency guidances at any time as follows:

Electronic Submissions

Submit electronic comments in the following way:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments. Comments submitted electronically, including attachments, to https://www.regulations.gov will be posted to the docket unchanged. Because your comment will be made public, you are solely responsible for ensuring that your comment does not include any confidential information that you or a third party may not wish to be posted, such as medical information, your or anyone else's Social Security number, or confidential business information, such as a manufacturing process. Please note that if you include your name, contact information, or other information that identifies you in the body of your comments, that information will be posted on https://www.regulations.gov.

• If you want to submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made available to the public, submit the comment as a written/paper submission and in the manner detailed (see “Written/Paper Submissions” and “Instructions”).

Written/Paper Submissions

Submit written/paper submissions as follows:

• Mail/Hand Delivery/Courier (for written/paper submissions): Dockets Management Staff (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852.

• For written/paper comments submitted to the Dockets Management Staff, FDA will post your comment, as well as any attachments, except for information submitted, marked and identified, as confidential, if submitted as detailed in “Instructions.”

Instructions: All submissions received must include the name of the guidance document that the comments address and the docket number for the guidance (see table 1). Received comments will be placed in the docket(s) and, except for those submitted as “Confidential Submissions,” publicly viewable at https://www.regulations.gov or at the Dockets Management Staff between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, 240-402-7500.

• Confidential Submissions—To submit a comment with confidential information that you do not wish to be made publicly available, submit your comments only as a written/paper submission. You should submit two copies total. One copy will include the information you claim to be confidential with a heading or cover note that states “THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION.” The Agency will review this copy, including the claimed confidential information, in its consideration of comments. The second copy, which will have the claimed confidential information redacted/blacked out, will be available for public viewing and posted on https://www.regulations.gov. Submit both copies to the Dockets Management Staff. If you do not wish your name and contact information to be made publicly available, you can provide this information on the cover sheet and not in the body of your comments and you must identify this information as “confidential.” Any information marked as “confidential” will not be disclosed except in accordance with 21 CFR 10.20 and other applicable disclosure law. For more information about FDA's posting of comments to public dockets, see 80 FR 56469, September 18, 2015, or access the information at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR/2015/09/18/pdf/2015/-23389.pdf.

Docket: For access to the docket to read background documents or the electronic and written/paper comments received, go to https://www.regulations.gov and insert the docket number, found in brackets in the heading of this document, into the “Search” box and follow the prompts and/or go to the Dockets Management Staff, 5630 Fishers Lane, Rm. 1061, Rockville, MD 20852, 240-402-7500.

You may submit comments on any guidance at any time (see § 10.115(g)(5) (21 CFR 10.115(g)(5))).

Submit written requests for single copies of this guidance to the address noted in table 1. Send two self-addressed adhesive labels to assist that office in processing your requests. See the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section for electronic access to the guidance.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Stephen Ripley, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), Food and Drug Administration, 10903 New Hampshire Ave., Bldg. 71, Rm. 7301, Silver Spring, MD 20993-0002, 240-402-7911.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

On January 31, 2020, as a result of confirmed cases of COVID-19, and after consultation with public health officials as necessary, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), pursuant to the authority under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 247d), determined that a PHE exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide. On March 13, 2020, there was a Presidential declaration that the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States constitutes a national emergency, beginning March 1, 2020.

In the Federal Register of March 25, 2020 (85 FR 16949) (the March 25, 2020, notice) (available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR/2020/03/25/pdf/2020/06222.pdf ), FDA announced procedures for making available FDA guidances related to the COVID-19 PHE. These procedures, which operate within FDA's established good guidance practices regulations, are intended to allow FDA to rapidly disseminate Agency recommendations and policies related to COVID-19 to industry, FDA staff, and other stakeholders. The March 25, 2020, notice stated that due to the need to act quickly and efficiently to respond to the COVID-19 PHE, FDA believes that prior public participation will not be feasible or appropriate before FDA implements COVID-19-related guidances. Therefore, FDA will issue COVID-19-related guidances for immediate implementation without prior public comment (see section 701(h)(1)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 371(h)(1)(C)) and § 10.115(g)(2)). The guidances are available on FDA's web pages entitled “COVID-19-Related Guidance Documents for Industry, FDA Staff, and Other Stakeholders” (available at https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-issues/covid-19-related-guidance-documents-industry-fda-staff-and-other-stakeholders ) and “Search for FDA Guidance Documents” (available at https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents).

The March 25, 2020, notice further stated that, in general, rather than publishing a separate NOA for each COVID-19-related guidance, FDA intends to publish periodically a consolidated NOA announcing the availability of certain COVID-19-related guidances that FDA issued during the relevant period, as included in table 1. This notice announces COVID-19-related guidances that are posted on FDA's website.

II. Availability of COVID-19-Related Guidance Documents

Pursuant to the process described in the March 25, 2020, notice, FDA is announcing the availability of the following COVID-19-related guidance:

Although this guidance has been implemented immediately without prior comment, FDA will consider all comments received and revise the guidance as appropriate (see § 10.115(g)(3)).

This guidance is being issued consistent with FDA's good guidance practices regulation (§ 10.115). The guidance represents the current thinking of FDA. It does not establish any rights for any person and is not binding on FDA or the public. You can use an alternative approach if it satisfies the requirements of the applicable statutes and regulations.

III. Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995

While this CBER guidance contains no collection of information, it does refer to previously approved FDA collections of information (listed in table 2). Therefore, clearance by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3501-3521) is not required for this guidance. The previously approved collections of information are subject to review by OMB under the PRA. The collections of information in the following FDA regulations and guidance have been approved by OMB as listed in the following table:

IV. Electronic Access

Persons with access to the internet may obtain COVID-19-related guidances at:

• FDA web page entitled “COVID-19-Related Guidance Documents for Industry, FDA Staff, and Other Stakeholders,” available at https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/mcm-issues/covid-19-related-guidance-documents-industry-fda-staff-and-other-stakeholders;

• FDA web page entitled “Search for FDA Guidance Documents” available at https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents; or https://www.regulations.gov.