Biden to invest billions in vaccine manufacturing

November 17, 2021 – Biden administration to invest billions of dollars to stimulate vaccine manufacturing in the United States – a move that will increase the number of doses shipped overseas and help prepare for future pandemics, the White House said on Wednesday.

“[The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services] solicits the interest of companies that have expressed an interest in the manufacture of mRNA vaccines“White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said during a briefing, referring to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.” The goal of this program is to increase the existing capacity of one billion additional doses per year, with production starting up by the second half of 2022. “

He added: “We hope businesses scale up and act quickly.”

The effort will be a partnership between the US government and drug companies. It will be funded in part as part of the US $ 1.9 trillion bailout.

HHS will send a request to private companies hoping to get feedback within 30 days.

The announcement is in line with President Joe Biden’s pledge to provide poorer countries with more doses of the vaccine. The United States donated 250 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to 110 countries on Wednesday.

“It’s free, with no strings attached,” Zients said. “It is a remarkable achievement.”

Meanwhile, national immunization rates continue to rise. It is estimated that 2.6 million children aged 5 to 11 received their first COVID-19 vaccine, or about 10% of eligible children. For comparison, Zients said, it took 50 days to reach 10% of eligible adults, and in the 1950s, it took 2 million children 3 months to receive the polio vaccine.

However, there is still a strong presence of disinformation plaguing social media, which officials are working to combat.

For example, many people in the anti-vaccine camp allege that COVID-19 injections are ineffective because there are still revolutionary cases.

But infectious disease czar Anthony S. Fauci, MD, reiterated that no vaccine is 100% effective, citing data showing strong protection against COVID-19 injections. In Texas, for example, the unvaccinated were 13 times more likely to be infected and 20 times more likely to die from September 4 to October 1.

“The data I’m showing you doesn’t lie; vaccines protect you, your family and your community, ”said Fauci. “It’s not too late, get vaccinated now.