Last week, President Biden outlined new steps to confront the growing spread of Covid-19.
Unfortunately, Biden’s plan failed to include what could be the most important action of all: an all-out effort to make safe and effective anti-viral Covid-19 pills available.
Pfizer’s Paxlovid was authorized by the FDA for emergency use on December 22. But regulatory authorizations are little more than symbolic, if the drugs are unavailable. White House Coronavirus Coordinator Jeffrey Zients said on The News Hour that there would be 10 million courses of Paxlovid available by “late summer” of next year—which is too little, too late.
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The White House should immediately act on these potentially transformational drug treatments. The president should invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to speed their production.