We interrupt this normally scheduled government contracts blog to talk about something of widespread interest—the COVID-19 vaccine.
Last month GAO was quite critical of the vaccine rollout. It remains critical, but the latest report, which looked at the development of the vaccine, highlights the speed of vaccine development and provides a tool for learning more about all six vaccines in various stages of development.
The latest report focused on Operation Warp Speed, the federal effort to speed up vaccine development. The report highlights that while manufacturing challenges remain, the development of the vaccine was an unqualified success.
It found that while companies did not depart dramatically from standard vaccine development plans, some adopted strategies to accelerate vaccine development particularly, GAO found that certain companies combined clinical trials, ran stages of clinical trials concurrently, and began large-scale manufacturing during trials.
GAO said that by the end of January, five of the six total vaccines being developed had begun manufacturing and 63.7 million doses had been released. Moderna and Pfizer are under contract to provide 200 million by March 31, GAO said.
The production challenges that remain include manufacturing capability (GAO said there just aren’t that many plants that can create vaccines), supply chain disruptions (materials are suddenly in high demand), and workforce disruption (workers are less available due to the pandemic).
The government is working to help overcome these challenges. According to GAO, the Army Corps of Engineers is working on construction projects to increase production and expand capacity. The government is also helping to expedite manufacturing equipment, developing a list of critical materials needed to make the vaccine and expedite their delivery. The state department is pushing visa approvals for skilled workers to help with manufacturing.
Finally, the Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services are using the Defense Production Act to prioritize supply contracts for vaccine companies.
For more information on how the government can use the Defense Production Act to incorporate small businesses, see my colleague Ian Patterson’s testimony to Congress last year. Here’s a video:
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