Biden Vows to Use Defense Production Act to Expand Vaccine Manufacturing

President-elect Joe Biden has committed to invoking the Defense Production Act to bolster the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines and supplies needed to administer shots, calling the Trump administration’s efforts to roll out vaccines “a dismal failure.”

“We’re going to use the full strength of the federal government to ramp up supply of the vaccines,” Biden said over the weekend. “We’ll use the Defense Production Act to work with private industry to accelerate the making of the materials needed to supply and administer the vaccine, from the tubes and syringes to protective equipment.”

The Defense Production Act is a federal law enacted approximately 70 years ago that allows the government to order private companies to make supplies needed to combat an emergency. The wartime legislation was previously invoked by President Trump in an effort to secure more coronavirus tests, ventilators and other emergency products.

Biden, who will be sworn in as the 46th President tomorrow, has set an ambitious goal of delivering 100 million shots in 100 days. The sweeping vaccination plan will start out by directing HHS to accelerate vaccinations by delivering all vaccine shots in reserve. The Biden administration believes that second-dose shots should not be held back to ensure they’re given on time as the Trump administration did, instead calling for a focus on providing as many initial vaccinations as possible.

The President-elect stressed that his administration is not modifying the FDA’s recommended dosing regimens for Pfizer/BioNTech’s and Moderna’s vaccines. — James Miessler