The administration of President Joe Biden will invoke the Defense Production Act to increase the country's supply of materials needed to make vaccines, COVID-19 tests and personal protective equipment, The Hill reports.
The U.S. will invest money in six suppliers to produce 61 million at-home and point-of-care COVID-19 tests by the end of summer, Tim Manning, the White House COVID-19 response team supply coordinator, told The Hill. He didn't specify how much money the U.S. will invest or which suppliers are involved, as contract negotiations haven't been finalized.
The money is intended to help the suppliers build new plants and production lines in the U.S., according to The Hill.
The Defense Production Act will also be used to increase the supply of raw materials and equipment to produce vaccines, as well as to make surgical gloves in the U.S. The U.S. will build rubber factories and factories to make surgical gloves, and by the end of the year the country will produce more than a billion surgical gloves per month, The Hill reported. The U.S. is currently almost 100 percent reliant on overseas suppliers for surgical gloves, Mr. Manning told The Hill.
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