The Government will invest 3,200 million dollars to develop pills against COVID-19

By Lauren Egan -

NBC News

Joe Biden's government announced Thursday a $ 3.2 billion plan to increase the national supply of drugs that can be used to treat COVID-19 and other viral threats in an effort to

better prepare for future pandemics.

The plan will be called the Pandemic Antiviral Program and

funding will come from the American Rescue Plan,

explained Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Pfizer is in a race against time to vaccinate children, who now account for nearly 20% of new COVID-19 cases

June 9, 202101: 45

"New antivirals that prevent dying and becoming seriously ill from COVID-19, especially

oral medications that could be taken at home at the beginning of an infection,

would be powerful tools to fight the pandemic and save lives," Fauci explained.

"Through multidisciplinary collaborations between leading scientists in academia and industry, this investment will help inspire medical innovation and build on the extraordinary success we have seen in the development of COVID-19 vaccines," he added.

Adriana Cárdenas, a medical technologist processes coronavirus test samples at AdventHealth Tampa laboratories on June 25, 2020 in Tampa, Florida.Octavio Jones / Getty Images

[Vaccines against COVID-19 do protect against the infectious delta variant although the effectiveness is lower]

At the press conference, Fauci said that

vaccines continue to be the centerpiece of the strategy in the fight against COVID-19.

More than 600,000 people have died in the United States from COVID-19.