During a press gaggle aboard Air Force One en route to Tokyo, where Biden will partake in a meeting with the “Quad” alliance, Jean-Pierre was asked by a reporter when parents in the U.S. “who are trying to get baby formula” will be able to find some.
“Look, you know, the President — you know, you’ve heard us say this: The President understands the struggle of moms and dads and parents and caregivers and making sure that — you know, making sure that we get — a child has, you know, a healthy — a healthy — a healthy way of eating,” Jean-Pierre replied, according to a White House transcript. “A healthy formula is — and safe — and safe formula — is our number one priority, which is why we’re — you know, which is why we have been very, very acutely aware of — of the process that we’ve initiated with the flyover and also the DPA.”
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“I don’t have a timeline for you yet,” she went on. “We want to exp- — you know, make sure it goes very quickly, because it’s so critical. And we know what — what families are going through. I — but I don’t have an exact timeline. Clear- — clearly, we want this to happen as fast as possible, as quickly as possible.”
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Jean-Pierre’s response comes amid a tremendous nationwide baby formula shortage that has landed many babies in the hospital after Abbott Laboratories declared a Similac recall earlier this year.
According to the retail pricing data website Datasembly, the share of baby formula out of stock across the U.S. hit 43 percent the week ending May 8, leaving many parents across the nation desperate to find food for their babies.
On Wednesday, Biden declared he was invoking the DPA to address the shortage, which enables him to mandate that manufacturers ramp up production, as well as launch a new program, “Operation Fly Formula,” to speed up the import of infant formula.
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Jean-Pierre announced that as part of the new program, a military plane carrying 78,000 pounds of specialty infant formula, “enough for over half a million bottles,” will arrive in Indiana Sunday.
“This formula was manufactured in an FDA-approved facility and will be inspected on arrival like all food imports,” she stated. “We prioritize this for the first shipment because this formula types — type serves a critical medical purpose and is in short supply in the United States as the result of the Abbott Sturgis plant closure.”
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