Biden Admin Launches $5 Billion Effort to Develop New COVID-19 Vaccines, Therapies

Syringes containing the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine sit in a tray in a vaccination room at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, Calif., on Jan. 7, 2021. Jae C. Hong/AP Photo

The Biden administration is launching an initiative in excess of $5 billion to speed up the development of new vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 and other coronaviruses that could pose a future threat.

The news comes the same day that President Joe Biden signed a measure to end the COVID-19 national emergency.