Prognosis
Trump Vows to Use Defense Production Act If Needed for Vaccines
- Act requires priority for vital national security contracts
- White House vaccine event used as victory lap by Trump
Donald Trump raised the specter of invoking the Defense Production Act.
Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg
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President Donald Trump celebrated the development of coronavirus vaccines at a White House summit on Tuesday and vowed to use executive powers if necessary to acquire sufficient doses, as the number of U.S. cases surpassed 15 million.
“This will quickly and dramatically reduce deaths and hospitalizations,” Trump said of the vaccines. He added that there were also “some big ones we’re going to be announcing soon,” naming drugmaker Johnson & Johnson.