Why We Can't Make Vaccine Doses Any Faster..There's not much even the Defense Production Act can do
Informative article --best to read all of it.
Why We Cant Make Vaccine Doses Any Faster
President Biden has promised enough doses for all American adults by this summer. Theres not much even the Defense Production Act can do to deliver doses before then.
https://www.propublica.org/article/covid-vaccine-supply?utm_source=pocket-newtab
by Isaac Arnsdorf and Ryan Gabrielson Feb. 19, 5 a.m. EST......................
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Vaccine supply chains are extremely specialized and sensitive, relying on expensive machinery, highly trained staff and finicky ingredients. Manufacturers have run into intermittent shortages of key materials, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office; the combination of surging demand and workforce disruptions from the pandemic has caused delays of four to 12 weeks for items that used to ship within a week, much like what happened when consumers were sent scrambling for household staples like flour, chicken wings and toilet paper.
People often question why the administration cant use the mighty Defense Production Act which empowers the government to demand critical supplies before anyone else to turbocharge production. But that law has its limits. Each time a manufacturer adds new equipment or a new raw materials supplier, they are required to run extensive tests to ensure the hardware or ingredients consistently work as intended, then submit data to the Food and Drug Administration. Adding capacity doesnt happen in a blink of an eye, said Jennifer Pancorbo, director of industry programs and research at North Carolina State Universitys Biomanufacturing Training and Education Center. It takes a good chunk of weeks.
And adding supplies at any one point only helps if production can be expanded up and down the entire chain. Thousands of components may be needed, said Gerald W. Parker, director of the Pandemic and Biosecurity Policy Program at Texas A&M Universitys Scowcroft Institute for International Affairs and a former senior official in the Department of Health and Human Services office for preparedness and response. You cant just turn on the Defense Production Act and make it happen.
The U.S. doesnt have spare facilities waiting around to manufacture vaccines, or other kinds of factories that could be converted the way General Motors began producing ventilators last year. The GAO said the Army Corps of Engineers is helping to expand existing vaccine facilities, but it cant be done overnight.
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FBaggins
(26,727 posts)There is more and more indication that a single dose is about as effective as two. If that can be firmly established they can double the numbers virtually instantly
patricia92243
(12,595 posts)problem and is giving everything he can to help us is assuring in its own way. Plus he is honoring the dead - another thing that is good for the nation.
The President should be the cheerleader-in-chief for the USA. President Biden is.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)The lost lives are a tragedy, of course, and many could have been saved without a Prez who failed to lead. But it's not just the USA with high numbers -- UK, France, Italy, and Spain are in a similar situation.
NNadir
(33,512 posts)As a veteran of the rush to commercialized AIDS drugs, chiefly protease inhibitors, I think that most of these bottlenecks described will be addressed more quickly than people think.
Seasider
(169 posts)Who seems to think vaccines can be made and distributed overnight.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,577 posts)Could they be repurposed to increase the nation's supply? Or would the very idea turn people off, even if it were proven to be absolutely safe. If the FDA approved the vaccine as being identical to the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, I would take it as opposed to going into the pandemic naked.
jmowreader
(50,550 posts)The big problem is getting the base stock for the vaccine. This isnt a chemical process where you order precursor chemicals (or make them yourself in your own oil refinery) and stir them together. With vaccine you need to grow a batch of the infectious agent that you then perform various steps on to make the final product...and if it takes two weeks to get the virus to cooperate, thats what it takes.