White House invokes wartime powers to increase production of vaccines, at-home tests, surgical gloves

Editor's Note

In a February 5 media briefing, the White House says it has invoked the Defense Production Act to help Pfizer produce more of its COVID-19 vaccine, and the same will hold true for Johnson & Johnson, should it receive Emergency Use Authorization for it’s vaccine, the February 5 Reuters reports.

The White House says it also will use the wartime powers to increase at-home COVID-19 tests and make more surgical gloves in the US.

Andy Slavitt, senior adviser to the White House’s COVID-19 response team says the government will build factories that make the raw materials for surgical gloves and help build plants in the US to make the gloves. By the end of the year, he says, the US would be able to produce a billion gloves a month.