US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he would invoke the Defence Production Act if needed to ensure Americans are first in line for domestically produced coronavirus vaccines at a summit designed to give him and his team credit for quick vaccine development.
Mr Trump made his remarks just before signing an executive order intended to ensure that priority access for Covid-19 vaccines procured by the US government is given to the American people before assisting other nations.
"After all Americans have been afforded the opportunity to be vaccinated, the United States will facilitate Covid-19 vaccine access to the international community for our allies, partners and others," said National Security Adviser Robert O'Brien.
The summit, held at a building on the White House complex, was put together in part to highlight Mr Trump’s role in pressing for quick progress on a vaccine. The Republican lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden but has refused to concede.
At the beginning of the event, a video was played showing people, including infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci, casting doubt on the likelihood that a vaccine would be ready before the end of the year.
The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve a vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech soon. Despite Mr Trump's repeated suggestion that the pandemic is rounding the turn, US coronavirus cases have exploded, crossing the 15 million mark on Sunday.
President-elect Biden has made fighting the pandemic a top priority when he comes into office.
Mr Trump’s executive order appeared to be put together in part to highlight his “America First” philosophy before Mr Biden takes office on January 20.
But the president’s own advisers said the government was well placed to vaccinate the US population by mid-2021, raising the question of why such an order was needed.
“I’m staying out of this. I can’t comment,” Dr Moncef Slaoui, a leader of Mr Trump’s vaccine initiative Operation Warp Speed, told ABC when asked about the order. “We feel that we can deliver the vaccines as needed, so I don’t exactly know what ... this order is about.”
The order does not appear to have a clear enforcement mechanism. The Defence Production Act has more teeth.
The act, passed in 1950, grants the president the power to expand industrial production of key materials or products for national security and other reasons.
“If necessary ... we’ll invoke the Defence Production Act, but we don’t think it will be necessary. If it is, it’s a very powerful act, as you know, because we’ve used it very, very successfully,” Mr Trump said.
Key members of Mr Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force attended the event and took a photo with Mr Trump when he signed the order in an auditorium with about 100 people, most of whom wore masks.
Dr Fauci was not present. Mr Trump has had a complicated relationship with the respected doctor, who has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984. Mr Biden has made him a chief medical adviser in his upcoming administration.
The White House did not invite members of the Biden transition team to the summit. Mr Biden’s administration will oversee vaccine distribution after he is inaugurated on January 20.
Last month, the president told reporters not to let Mr Biden take credit for the vaccine. "The vaccines were me, and I pushed people harder than they’ve ever been pushed before,” he said.
Mr Trump, who has asserted allegations of widespread electoral fraud in key states without evidence, repeated his claims when asked on Tuesday why Mr Biden officials had not been included in the summit.
“We’re going to have to see who the next administration is, because we won in those swing states and there was terrible things that went on. But whichever the next administration is will really benefit by what we have been able to do,” Mr Trump said. “Hopefully the next administration will be the Trump administration.”
__________
Gallery: the Covid-19 crisis one year on
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
ROUTE%20TO%20TITLE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERound%201%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Beat%20Leolia%20Jeanjean%206-1%2C%206-2%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERound%202%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBeat%20Naomi%20Osaka%207-6%2C%201-6%2C%207-5%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERound%203%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBeat%20Marie%20Bouzkova%206-4%2C%206-2%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERound%204%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Beat%20Anastasia%20Potapova%206-0%2C%206-0%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EQuarter-final%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBeat%20Marketa%20Vondrousova%206-0%2C%206-2%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESemi-final%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBeat%20Coco%20Gauff%206-2%2C%206-4%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFinal%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Beat%20Jasmine%20Paolini%206-2%2C%206-2%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Tightening the screw on rogue recruiters
The UAE overhauled the procedure to recruit housemaids and domestic workers with a law in 2017 to protect low-income labour from being exploited.
Only recruitment companies authorised by the government are permitted as part of Tadbeer, a network of labour ministry-regulated centres.
A contract must be drawn up for domestic workers, the wages and job offer clearly stating the nature of work.
The contract stating the wages, work entailed and accommodation must be sent to the employee in their home country before they depart for the UAE.
The contract will be signed by the employer and employee when the domestic worker arrives in the UAE.
Only recruitment agencies registered with the ministry can undertake recruitment and employment applications for domestic workers.
Penalties for illegal recruitment in the UAE include fines of up to Dh100,000 and imprisonment
But agents not authorised by the government sidestep the law by illegally getting women into the country on visit visas.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
Polarised public
31% in UK say BBC is biased to left-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is biased to right-wing views
19% in UK say BBC is not biased at all
Source: YouGov
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
TALE OF THE TAPE
Floyd Mayweather
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
Conor McGregor
- Height
- Weight
- Reach
- Record
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202-litre%204-cylinder%20turbo%20and%203.6-litre%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20automatic%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20235hp%20and%20310hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E258Nm%20and%20271Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh185%2C100%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Silent Hill f
Publisher: Konami
Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Rating: 4.5/5
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
Power: 190hp
Torque: 320Nm
Price: From Dh147,000
Available: Now
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Chinese Grand Prix schedule (in UAE time)
Friday: First practice - 6am; Second practice - 10am
Saturday: Final practice - 7am; Qualifying - 10am
Sunday: Chinese Grand Prix - 10.10am
