WASHINGTON - The White House says President Barack Obama intends to announce a new plan to respond faster and better to bioterrorism attacks and public heath threats.
A White House spokesman said Obama will direct government leaders to rethink plans for medical countermeasures so that quick, reliable and affordable antidotes will be available during a public health emergency.
Obama will announce the plan in his State of the Union address to the nation Wednesday evening.
In November, the Obama administration rolled out a plan to counter deadly biological threats, such as the deliberate release of anthrax or the smallpox virus.
The government has been criticized because the country ran out of vaccines for the deadly swine flu in 2009.
