Congress passes American Rescue Plan with $500M for FDA’s COVID-19 activities, and billions for vaccines, testing and surveillance

The American Rescue Plan, passed Wednesday by the House of Representatives, includes $500 million for FDA’s COVID-19 activities and billions of dollars to support acquisition and deployment of vaccines, therapies and tests. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the legislation into law on Friday.

The legislation will give FDA a great deal of discretion to allocate the funding bolus. Allowable uses include evaluating the “continued performance, safety, and effectiveness, including with respect to emerging COVID–19 variants, of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics approved, cleared, licensed, or authorized” for COVID–19, as well as evaluating advanced continuous manufacturing activities related to vaccine production...