US removes Defense Production Act ratings on AstraZeneca, Novavax, Sanofi vaccines

The move will allow US-based companies that supply these vaccine manufacturers to make their own decisions on which orders to fulfill first.

Vials of Covid vaccine | Representational image | Bloomberg

Washington: Confident of the availability of Covid-19 vaccines in the country, the Biden Administration has removed Defense Production Act priority ratings on AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi vaccines, a top US official said.

The move would let companies take their own decision on whom they want to sell their vaccines.

We have secured enough vaccine supply for all Americans. This is a direct result of the president taking aggressive action, including through the use of the Defense Production Act, to mobilise the full force of US vaccine manufacturing and production, White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients told reporters during a virtual news conference.

Because of those actions and the success of US vaccine manufacturers, we are confident in our supply of our authorised vaccines. As a result, we’re removing the DPA priority ratings for AstraZeneca, Novavax, and Sanofi.

While the manufacturers will continue to make these three vaccines, this action will allow US-based companies that supply these vaccine manufacturers to make their own decisions on which orders to fulfill first, Zients said.

The official said President Biden has committed that the US will be an arsenal for vaccines. America’s work on vaccine supply is guided by a three part approach, he added.

First, having successfully secured enough supply of vaccine for Americans, we are donating surplus US vaccine supply and encouraging other countries with surplus supplies to do the same. In March, the US shared over four million doses of our AstraZeneca vaccine supply with Canada and Mexico and the president has announced a US commitment to sharing a total of 80 million doses by the end of June, he said.

This is five times the number of doses any other country has committed to sharing and these 80 million doses represent 13 per cent of the total vaccines produced by the United States by the end of this month. We will continue to donate additional doses across the summer months as supply becomes available, he added.

But at the same time, we know that won’t to be sufficient, so the second part of our approach is working with US vaccine manufacturers to vastly increase vaccine supply for the rest of the world in a way that also creates jobs here at home, he said.

The third part of the approach will have US work with its partner nations, pharmaceutical companies and other manufacturers to facilitate the kind of global vaccine manufacturing and production capacity and capabilities that cannot only help the world beat this pandemic but also prepares the world to respond to potential future threats, he said.

Today, we’re outlining our framework for sharing with the world the first 25 million doses. To be clear, our approach is to ensure vaccines are delivered in a way that is equitable and follows the latest science and public health data, he added. –PTI