Why isn’t this being mass-produced via the Defense Production Act like they are now doing with respirators? WTH are they waiting for?
Because ramping up chemical production is (much) more complicated and takes longer. Trump has already addressed this, and activated emergency powers authorizing release of military stores to civilian use. Think about how many doses the DOD has to keep in reserve when, at any time, they may have to send thousands of troops into malarial zones.
Those extra doses will buy us time to get the production lines expanded to accommodate the increased demand.