Biden thanks Michigan workers producing vaccines for global distribution

Joe Biden

President Joe Biden tours a Pfizer manufacturing site, Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, in Portage, Mich. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Jeff Zients, White House coronavirus response coordinator, and Albert Bourla, Pfizer CEO look on. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)AP

President Joe Biden said Michigan workers are carrying on the state’s legacy of building an “arsenal” to defeat the world’s greatest threats, comparing the production of COVID-19 vaccines set for global distribution to workers who manufactured tanks and war machines in World War Two.

During a visit to the United Kingdom Thursday, Biden said America will create 500 million vaccines with the help of Pfizer’s manufacturing plant in Portage. Biden also reflected on his February tour of the Pfizer facility, accompanied by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla.

“It’s incredible the ingenuity, the care, the safety that goes into every single dose as I toured the entire plant,” Biden said. “Most of all, when you’re there, you feel the pride every worker there feels -- the pride they feel in what they are doing.”

The White House announced Friday that G7 nations will distribute 1 billion vaccines for a global inoculation campaign that killed 3.7 million people across the world. Delivery is set to begin in August. Biden said 200 million Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines will be delivered this year and 300 million more will be delivered in the first half of 2022.

The U.S. already pledged 80 million vaccine doses, for a total of 580 million doses headed to 92 low-income countries and members of the African Union.

Biden said the commitment represents a monumental contribution to world health by American workers. Biden said Michigan made a similar commitment 80 years ago when Detroit manufacturing workers built tanks and planes and vehicles to “defeat the global threat of fascism” in World War Two.

“They built what became known as the ‘arsenal of democracy,’” Biden said. “Now, a new generation of American men and women, working with today’s latest technology, is going to build a new arsenal to defeat the current enemy of world peace, health, and stability: COVID-19.”

Biden said the global vaccine effort won’t hurt the push to innoculate Americans. The White House hit a goal to have 70% of all adults receive at least their first dose of the vaccine by July 4.

Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist today announced Friday that 60% of Michigan’s 16 and older population received their first dose of the vaccine.

“We can all feel a sense of optimism thanks to the tireless efforts of countless frontline workers who put their own safety on the line to keep the rest of us going,” Whitmer said. “And we are tremendously grateful to the medical community who kept us all safe and created the safe, effective vaccines, all miracles of modern science.”

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