Biden Administration Plans $3 Billion Investment in Vaccine Supply Chain

The Biden administration has pledged to pour almost $3 billion into beefing up domestic COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing as it considers a potential mass program of booster shots.

 “This funding, which will start going out in the coming weeks, will enable companies that manufacture and produce vaccine inputs to add new production lines and facilities and to also expand fill-finish capacity,” said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, in a media briefing late last week.

The $3 billion investment in the U.S. vaccine supply chain will “help us deliver on the president’s commitment to be the arsenal of vaccines for the world and strengthen our long-term capabilities to respond to future threats,” Zients said. He also announced that the U.S. is donating 500 million vaccine doses to the world’s poorest nations.

The World Health Organization has said that rich countries should be concentrating on getting the entire world vaccinated before thinking about booster shots for their own citizens. — Martin Berman-Gorvine