Minister of Foreign Affairs appointed Antony Blinken
Antony BlinkenFor Joe Biden, an experienced foreign policy team, Biden selects Wendy Sherman for the second State Department as overnight defense: agency dogs watch for response to riots in Capitol 25,000 guards now approved for inauguration security | Troop levels in Afghanistan, Iraq hit 2,500 MORE said the elected president Joe Biden
Joe Biden The woman accused of trying to sell Pelosi laptops to Russians has been arrested. Trump recently gets approval for his job as President Trump wants to lift travel restrictions on Coronavirus for Europe, Brazil. intends to join Covax, the World Health Organization’s effort to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine to low- and middle-income countries.
Biden had not previously officially pledged to take part in the initiative.
“We strongly believe that we can ensure that every American gets the vaccine, but also help ensure that others around the world have access to it,” Blinken told senators during a confirmation hearing Tuesday.
The Trump administration in September said it would not join the alliance, sparking criticism from public health experts who say it is a far-sighted view of a global effort.
Virtually every country in the world participates in the initiative, except the US and Russia.
The Trump administration at the time said it did not want to be “restricted by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”
Global health institutions have launched the Covax project to ensure that poor and developing countries can access a coronavirus vaccine at the same rate as rich and developed countries.
WHO officials said Covax needs additional funding to achieve its goal of vaccinating at least 20 percent of the population in each country by 2021.
According to the WHO, Covax has already ordered 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with options for 1 billion more.
But the organization warns that affluent countries are storing vaccine doses, which could delay the delivery of Covax-funded vaccines and endanger poor countries. Health experts warn that the pandemic will not end until it is under global control.
Laura Kelly contributed