US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that prioritises Americans’ access to COVID-19 vaccines before the US potentially begins helping other nations.
If necessary, Trump said, he is ready to invoke the Defence Production Act to ensure that COVID-19 vaccines first get to the Americans. The Defence Production Act allows a president to force private manufacturers to ramp up production and give the federal government priority on any orders it places.
American companies, he said, were the first to produce a verifiably safe and effective vaccine.
“Together, we will defeat the virus, and we will soon end the pandemic, and we will save millions and millions of lives, both in our country and all over the world. And we’ve already started,” Trump said during signing the executive order on Tuesday at a White House event celebrating ‘Operation Warp Speed’, his administration’s effort to produce and distribute safe and effective vaccines for COVID-19.
As per the executive order, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is directed to provide priority access to COVID-19 vaccines to Americans.
“Through this action, Trump is putting the health and safety of Americans, the viability of our economy and the security of our nation first,” the White House said.
