The purchase of the Biden administration of 200 million additional doses of Pfizer and Modern means that the US can fully vaccinate 300 million people with just those two vaccines – and 355 million. more people get FDA approval as four additional vaccines.
Why it matters: In the US live 250 million adults, many of whom do not prefer to be vaccinated. It is also now in charge of a large part of the global vaccine supply. The White House says the U.S. will eventually donate excess doses to other countries, but it has not released a plan.
The state of affairs: The government is almost entirely focused on ensuring that every American who wants a vaccine can get it by the summer.
- With the additional doses of Pfizer and Moderna – and up to 40 million doses of Johnson & Johnson ready to be used if approved – the White House is increasingly confident that they will achieve their goal.
- Meanwhile, the government will “develop a framework to provide excess doses … also through the COVAX facility, as appropriate,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price.
- They will have to balance the distribution doses around the world by holding it back for possible stimuli or reluctant the vaccine.
Between the lines: Sources in the administration emphasize that despite the large orders, only two vaccines have been approved and that the stock is barely on the ground. Until that changes, they say, it’s too early to focus on sharing doses worldwide.
The state of affairs: Many countries’ vaccination plans are based entirely on the global COVAX initiative, which aims to distribute two billion doses this year, mainly to low- and middle-income countries. Some do not expect to vaccinate the majority of their population until 2023.
- According to a spokesperson for Gavi, the international vaccine alliance, COVAX is developing a platform for donations, which is expected to increase in the second half of 2021 as affluent countries begin to meet their domestic needs.
- Biden said the U.S. will participate in COVAX, which has denounced Donald Trump but has yet to deliver specific commitments.
- Countries, including Canada and France, have said they will contribute doses to COVAX, but only Norway has promised to do so in parallel with its domestic vaccination program.
Meanwhile, India and China makes bilateral donations to neighboring countries, while China and Russia sell their state-funded pottery around the world.
- White House press secretary Jen Psaki warned on Friday that China and Russia could use vaccines to show other countries.
- She also stressed that in December the US dedicated $ 4 billion to Gavi for global vaccinations, and Biden’s recovery plan includes $ 11 billion more for global aid.
- Canada and the UK actually bought even more doses relative to their population than the US, but the US controls most doses.
What they say: “From an American perspective, we’re losing the message war out there a little bit,” said Dr. Krishna Udayakumar, director of Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center.
- ‘If we look at six months from now, it may well be the fact that the US has donated more doses than any other country in the world. But right now, the storyline is how we buy more and store more of the supply. ‘
Dr. Zeke Emanuel, vice-pilot for global initiatives at the University of Pennsylvania, acknowledges that bulk purchases have provoked international criticism, but says things will look very different in the spring. By that time, the US had increased local distribution and could think more about delivering doses worldwide.
- Emanuel, who served on Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board during the transition, says the U.S. should be a priority country for vaccination under all circumstances.
- He also says that the billions invested by the US could help expand global vaccine production in the longer term.
- For now, however, it means that “every time a bilateral agreement is passed, it means taking out capacity that can help support equitable access,” Gavi’s spokesman said.
The conclusion: As Dr. Anthony Fauci noted, the emerging variants of COVID-19 emphasize the need to effectively distribute vaccines around the world to get the pandemic really under control.
- The US will ‘be part of the process’, says Fauci. But it is not yet clear what America’s role will be.
Note: Most of the 1.2 billion doses of six vaccines currently in the books were purchased as part of the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed. Sanofi’s is not on our list as it is only expected in late 2021.