$7 billion in purchases by states this spring for personal protective equipment and high-demand medical devices such as ventilators and infrared thermometers.
The AP did not specifically request details on canceled contracts, but one-third of the states voluntarily provided data totaling more than $3 billion in canceled orders.
Respirator masks like N95s were among the hardest-to-find items and the most frequently canceled, accounting for about one-third of all halted orders in those states.
The cancellations came as manufacturers experienced backlogs, and purchasers often had to work through intermediaries who would reroute products to whoever would pay the most the fastest.