Biden was unaware of the looming formula shortage until May

President Joe Biden revealed on Wednesday that he was not aware of the looming nationwide formula shortages until two months ago.

Speaking at a virtual White House roundtable, Biden told reporters that he was not briefed on possible shortages until April. Abbott Nutrition executives, however, have said that they knew about the “general impact” the mid-February shutdown of its Michigan production plant would have on the U.S. supply.

"Well, here’s the deal.  I became aware of this problem some time in — after April — in early April, about how intense it was," Biden said. "And so, we did everything in our power from that point on, and that’s all I can tell you right now.  And we’re going to continue to do it until we get the job done."

Karine Jean-Pierre, the Biden’s administration new press secretary, told reporters that the government attempted to address the closure immediately, but was unable to explain the delay in communication with the president. She did, however, note that the president is “frustrated” by the shortages.

"We have been doing this whole of government approach since the recall. We have been working on this for months, for months. We have been taking this incredibly seriously,” the press secretary said.

Jean-Pierre added that Biden was satisfied with how the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has handled the response. Last week, however, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf told reporters that he believed the agency’s response was “too slow” and that there were “suboptimal” decisions made.

Since the shortage took Americans by surprise last month, the Biden administration’s “Operation Fly Formula” has been used to import formula from abroad while the Defense Production Act has been implemented to hasten domestic production, a step which wasn’t taken until mid-May, Fox News reported.

Next week, approximately 3.7 million 8-ounce bottle equivalents of Kendamil baby formula is expected to arrive from London – shipped free by United Airlines. Similarly, Bubs Australia is expected to ship the equivalent of 4.6 million 8-ounce bottles of its infant formula in the coming days.