Getting Americans back to health, work, and school is, rightly, the immediate priority, says BIO President and CEO Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath in Roll Call—but we also need to prepare for the next pandemic. Bolstering the bioeconomy can help.
We’re on the way to beating COVID-19.The United States has given more vaccinations than any other country, and President Biden announced there would be enough vaccines to vaccinate 300 million Americans by July. (Shoutout to Pfizer, which plans to double the number of doses it produces each week.)
“But solving our current crisis is not enough,”she added. “If our leaders don’t lay the groundwork for a healthier future, we could face public health emergencies that make COVID-19 look tame by comparison.”
“Preparedness begins with accelerating infectious disease research and development—including through more grants, tax incentives, and public-private partnerships that support those driving our innovation ecosystem,” she continues. This could help small companies—start-ups like Moderna—deliver new treatments.
A few more things the administration needs to do:
- “[W]ork collaboratively with the private sector to boost our domestic manufacturing capabilities and stockpiles of medical supplies”—but also “avoid any spirit of ‘vaccine nationalism’ and preserve the benefits of a global supply chain.”
- “[A]dopt a One Health policy approach.”
- Expand “support for biotechnologies that make manufacturing and farming greener and more sustainable.”
Read Dr. Michelle’s entire op-ed.
Learn more about BIO’s 100 Days of Innovation blueprint.
More Health Care News:
The Hill: Biden selects Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as first Black woman to run Medicare
“[H]er previous posts included serving as deputy director for policy at the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as well as director of coverage policy at the Department of Health & Human Services.”
The New York Times: Clinical trials are moving out of the lab and into people’s homes
“After the pandemic forced thousands of trials to shut down, researchers found clever ways to conduct human studies remotely—while reaching more people, quickly and cheaply.”
