President-elect Joe Biden will be invoking the Defense Manufacturing Act when he takes office next month to boost production of the coronavirus vaccine.
Typically used in wartime, the law allows the president to prioritize manufacturing for national security and could help the U.S. secure the necessary equipment and products manufacturers need to manufacture the coronavirus vaccine.
“You will see how he invokes the Defense Production Act,” said Dr. Celine Gounder, member of Biden’s Covid-19 Advisory Board, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. “The idea is to ensure that the personal protective equipment, testing capacity and raw materials for the vaccines are produced in sufficient quantities.”
According to NBC News, the Biden transition team has been discussing whether the law should be enforced when Biden takes office. A White House report released in July alleged Trump used the law more than 80 times to increase the production of face masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE).
According to the New York Times, all but six examples in the report were either executive ordinances unrelated to PPE manufacture or Department of Defense spending unrelated to supply shortages.
Moderna, the second company to approve its coronavirus vaccine in the United States, fears the Defense Production Act will give Pfizer unfair access to vaccine components and equipment. However, Gounder did not specify how or whether Biden intended to apply the law fairly.
The Trump administration said up to 20 million Americans will receive the vaccine this month. So far, however, fewer than two million people have received the vaccine.
Trump’s coronavirus vaccine czar Moncef Slaoui told reporters the rollout was slower than expected, but Pfizer announced earlier this month that millions of cans are in storage but have not received shipping instructions from the Trump administration. In addition, the administration passed on the option to purchase millions of additional cans if it had the opportunity.
Since the vaccine began, Democratic lawmakers like Biden, Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, and others have recorded the vaccine on live television. Meanwhile, Republican lawmakers who downplayed the virus for months are under attack for taking the vaccine when it first started being introduced.
How it started: How it works: pic.twitter.com/9yFXKyYNuR
– Sawyer Hackett (@SawyerHackett) December 21, 2020
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