Biden administration likely to miss global vaccine-sharing goals #Baaghi
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Biden administration likely to miss global vaccine-sharing goals

4 years ago
4 years ago
2 mins
President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his commitment to shipping 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June

June 22, 2021: President Joe Biden is expected to fall short of his commitment to shipping 80 million COVID-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June because of regulatory and other hurdles, officials said as they announced new plans Monday for sharing the shots globally.

The White House announced the final allocations for the doses, with 60 million shots going to the global COVAX vaccine-sharing alliance and 20 million being directed to specific partners. But fewer than 10 million doses have been shipped around the world, including 2.5 million doses delivered to Taiwan over the weekend, and about 1 million doses delivered to Mexico, Canada and South Korea earlier this month.

Officials said that while US-made doses are ready, delivery has been delayed due to legal, logistical and regulatory requirements of Americans and recipients. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “The biggest challenge we’ve had is not really the supply – we have enough vaccine to share with the world.”

But it’s a tough logistical challenge, “said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Syringes and alcohol prepaid, cold storage for food, customs procedures and even language barriers, Psaki said she did not know how much vaccine would be shipped by the end of the month.

On May 17, Biden announced that “in the next six weeks, the United States will ship 80 million doses abroad. This will be more vaccines than any other country in history – five times more than any other country. Even Russia and China, who has donated 15 million doses. Earlier this month, Biden announced that the top 80 million Americans would buy 500 million doses from Pfizer for global donations over the next year. The first shipment is expected in August.

Biden initially pledged to supply 60 million ready-made doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries, which is not yet authorized in the United States but has been widely accepted around the world. AstraZeneca’s food has been set aside for export through a weeks-long safety review by the Food and Drug Administration.

Given the decline in domestic demand, Biden is expected to be able to meet the 80million full commitment even without the AstraZeneca vaccine. The White House earlier this month unveiled plans to export the first 25 million doses of Pfizer, Modern and Johnson & Johnson vaccines from existing federal stockpiles, and some have begun shipping. On Monday, it unveiled plans for 55 million more shots to be exported.

Through COVAX, the latest batch of doses will include about 14 million for Latin America and the Caribbean, including Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Panama and Costa Rica; approximately 16 million for Asia for India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Cambodia and the Pacific Islands; and about 10 million for Africa, with countries selected in concert with the African Union.

About 14 million doses will be shared directly with Colombia, Argentina, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Oman, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Georgia, Moldova and Bosnia.

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