The Federal Emergency Management Agency will be sending more than $4.5 million to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to reimburse the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for the costs of testing students, staff and faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $4,505,401 Public Assistance grant will reimburse the private land-grant research university in Cambridge for the costs of contracting with three companies for testing between October 2021 and June 2022.
Those contractors provided 1,079 COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests and 637,721 antigen tests as well as testing kit transportation and testing software.
“FEMA is pleased to be able to assist MIT with these costs,” said FEMA Region 1 Regional Administrator Lori Ehrlich. “Reimbursing state, county, and municipal governments – as well as eligible non-profits and tribal entities – for the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic is an important part of our nation’s ongoing recovery.”
FEMA’s Public Assistance program is an essential source of funding for states and communities recovering from a federally declared disaster or emergency.
So far, FEMA has provided more than $2.8 billion in Public Assistance grants to Massachusetts to reimburse the commonwealth for pandemic-related expenses.