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Of particular significance to Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont, was the approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration of Moderna’s coronavirus vaccine on Thursday.
Daines, a chemical engineer with experience in launching FDA-regulated products, defended in March a $ 10 billion federal funding effort to accelerate the development and manufacture of coronavirus vaccines. The funding revived Operation Warp Speed, the unprecedented effort to develop and distribute vaccines at a record pace.
“This will be the $ 10 billion we ever spent,” Daines told Fox News Thursday shortly after an FDA panel voted to approve the Moderna vaccine, which has secured $ 483 million in funding. federal in April.
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“If you think about return on investment … this will have the highest return on investment we’ve ever achieved in terms of federal government investment.”
GOP Sen. Steve Daines, center, speaks during a campaign stop in Clancy, Mont. Daines was re-elected, beating Governor Steve Bullock in one of the most expensive contests of the election season. (Thom Bridge / independent recording via AP)
In the early days of the pandemic, Daines feared that the federal government’s response would focus too much on treating the symptoms of the problem and attempt to stop the pandemic. He began speaking to federal health officials about funding vaccine development and manufacturing at the same time so that millions of doses would be ready for mass distribution as soon as the product is approved. The two-track approach cut the process down by about six months, Daines said.
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His $ 10 billion vaccine proposal was eventually included in the $ 2.2 trillion relief bill of the CARES Act, which took effect in March. And just nine months later, the FDA is moving forward with a second vaccine.
“I kind of see this as a Christmas present for the American people,” Daines told Fox News.
The first approved vaccine came from Pfizer. Unlike Moderna, Pfizer did not take government funding in the spring for vaccine research and development. But the United States signed a $ 1.95 billion contract with the drugmaker in July to secure the distribution of 100 million doses.
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Daines said these partnerships between the federal government and the private sector would solve the global health crisis. Daines is aware that of all the steps he has taken as a legislator, his $ 10 billion vaccination effort may be the largest.
“I will consider this to be one of the most enriching experiences I have had during my time at Congress,” said Daines.
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