On the tailcoat of Tuesday’s United Nations General Assembly, President Biden is hosting a virtual COVID-19 summit Wednesday, calling for the end of the pandemic globally.
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On the tailcoat of Tuesday’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), President Biden is hosting a virtual COVID-19 summit Wednesday, calling for the end of the pandemic globally.
He intends to put forth complete vaccination of 70% of the world population by September 2022. While a good goal, it is met with much criticism and even anger as FDA has just recommended the distribution of booster shots in Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness. Pfizer had requested boosters for all US adults, which the FDA panel voted down 16-2. Final clearance is expected within days.
“It’s like you and I have a life jacket, and they are throwing us one or two more when more than half the planet doesn’t have one,” said Tom Hart of the ONE campaign, an advocate for low-income nations to receive exported vaccines.
“Not only is that morally outrageous, it doesn’t make any sense epidemiologically. The best way to protect Americans is to extinguish this fire elsewhere as quickly as possible.”
The president will be asking summit participants to commit to a “higher level of ambition” by making vaccines more available, particularly in impoverished countries. The summit is not a pledging conference per se, but the hope is that partners will come ready to announce their commitment.
“We need to end the pandemic
—as soon as possible, aiming by the end of next year. We also need to build capacity so that all countries, everywhere, are able to prevent, detect, and respond to future biological threats and mitigate outbreaks on their communities,” a White House senior administration official said.
According to UNICEF, the US has donated more vaccines than any other country, and the administration is negotiating with Pfizer for another 500 million vaccines to donate globally.
So far, over 140 million doses have been sent abroad. According to Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, director of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, it’s nowhere near enough for what’s needed but “puts other countries to shame.”
Donating doses to countries in need is not as simple as dropping your old housewares off at the Salvation Army. The timeline is short. There is a mere 96 hours to pack, ship and deliver before frozen vaccines spoil. Many countries can’t accommodate the ultra-cold storage required for Pfizer’s shot. There’s also a sticky mess of red tape with regulatory approvals and legal agreements with the accepting country to allow for the donation.
“We’re feeling proud of all the work that the U.S. government has done to fulfill the president’s commitment to share vaccines with the world, and we’re looking forward to doing more,” Natalie Quillian, a senior White House official involved in the Covid-19 response, said in an interview last month.
While close to 6 billion doses of vaccines have now been administered, only 32% of the world has been fully vaccinated according to recent data. A dismal 2% of those vaccines have been administered in Africa. The vaccine distribution data has shone a light on the inequality reality in our world, with many speaking out against the proposed plans to boost those already fully vaccinated.
“It defies common sense to suggest that, in the face of extreme global scarcity, that if you use a lot more vaccine at home, that it’s not going to impact the ability to vaccinate abroad,” said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor and director of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center on Public Health Law & Human Rights.
“The overwhelming reason for the injustice is supply scarcity.”
