Biden to Invoke Defense Production Act for Vaccines

President-elect Joe Biden will invoke the Defense Production Act after he’s sworn into office to help increase production on the coronavirus vaccine, a member of his COVID-19 advisory team announced on Monday.

Celine Gounder, an expert in infectious diseases at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that “you will see him [Biden] invoking the Defense Production Act. The idea there is to make sure the personal protective equipment, the test capacity, and the raw materials for the vaccines are produced in adequate supply.”

A Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson told CNBC that President Donald Trump’s administration has used the Defense Production Act 18 times already in regards to the vaccine.

“Efforts to expand the manufacturing capacity across the nation’s pharmaceutical production base include: enhancing plants and production lines with specialty tooling and staff; optimizing the supply chain of raw materials; investing in production of supplies such as glass vials and syringes; and scaling up fill/finish lines,” they said.

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