//Biden pledges new Covid-19 relief package and to invoke Defense Production Act

Biden pledges new Covid-19 relief package and to invoke Defense Production Act

President-elect Joe Biden delivers remarks on the Covid-19 pandemic on December 29 in Wilmington, Delaware. | Mark Makela/Getty Images

Biden called Covid-19 vaccine distribution the “greatest operational challenge we’ve ever faced.”

Striking a grim tone in Wilmington, Delaware, President-elect Joe Biden warned that defeating Covid-19 through widespread vaccination will be the “greatest operational challenge we’ve ever faced as a nation.”

Biden says he expects “incredible opportunities for our nation in the years ahead,” declaring that the economy is “poised to come back.” However, to get there, Biden newly pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act (DPA) to accelerate private industry manufacturing of protective equipment and vaccines. The president-elect also promised Congress that he would propose another Covid-19 relief package early next year.

As Vox’s Alex Ward has explained, the DPA, which President Donald Trump has used to provide some medical equipment,