“It’s about saving lives,” Blinken said in a statement at the State Department. “We will treat our partner countries with respect.”
Blinken made the announcement and introduced a new Covid coordinator, Gayle Smith, as the US became increasingly critical of the failure to share unused vaccines with other countries, even though Russia and China were aggressively pursuing vaccine diplomacy with countries across the country. world pursued.
“As we gain more confidence in our vaccine supply here at home, we are exploring options to share more with other countries going forward,” Blinken said. “We believe we will be able to do much more in this position. I know many countries are asking the United States to do more, some with growing desperation, because of the scale and extent of their emergencies in Covid. We hear you, and I promise we will move as fast as possible. ‘
Blinken did not describe the vaccination levels in the US that Biden’s government hopes to achieve before sharing more vaccinations worldwide.
He stressed the need for global cooperation and that the US should help other countries.
“Even if we were to vaccinate 332 million people in the United States tomorrow, we would still not be completely safe from the virus,” the top US diplomat said in comments to the State Department. “Not while it is still propagating around the world and changing into new variants that can easily come here and spread across our communities, and not if we want to reopen our economy or start traveling again.”
“This pandemic will only end at home before it ends worldwide,” Blinken said.
‘Core values’
He also outlined other “core values” that he said would lead the Foreign Ministry’s plans to bring Russia and China to the fore.
“We will not obstruct too much and deliver too little. We maintain high standards for the vaccines we help bring to others, and distribute only those that have been proven to be safe and effective. We will insist on an approach based on fairness, “Blinken said. .
China has taken a different approach to the US, exporting vaccines widely before making them widely available at home. Russia and India also share vaccines, but not on the same scale as Beijing. The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced last month that it offers free vaccinations to 69 countries and exports them commercially to 28 others.
Blinken also proposes Smith, the head of the ONE campaign and former head of the US agency for international development, who will become the coordinator of the State Department for international efforts to fight the Covid pandemic.
Blinken noted that he had experience with the U.S. response to the Ebola crisis in 2014, and worked on the global fight against malaria, tuberculosis and HIV / Aids. Blinken said Smith is being tested. She is highly respected. She will run the ground. And I can say that I have worked with Gail for years and admired her, that no one will work harder, faster or more effectively to get us to the finish line. ‘
Smith, an African specialist and veteran of the aid and development world, served at USAID under former President Barack Obama before joining the ONE Campaign, a non-partisan advocacy group that fights global poverty.
Smith said she “fought a number of viruses in the past” and learned two lessons.
“The first is that if the virus moves faster than us, it wins,” she said. ‘The second is that with unity of purpose, science, vigilance and leadership we can surpass any virus. America has done it before. ” Smith appeals to the history of dual efforts by the United States to address health challenges.
Referring to the esteemed president’s emergency plan for AIDS relief, or PEPFAR program, she said that a Republican president launched a courageous initiative 18 years ago to tackle the HIV / Aids epidemic. A Democratic president has further expanded and expanded the mission. In 2014, the Obama-Biden government, with the strong and generous support of Congress, defeated the world’s first Ebola epidemic. ‘
Noting that “American leadership is urgently needed,” Smith said the United States and the world community have two challenges. “First is to shorten the lifespan of a borderless pandemic that destroys lives and livelihoods around the world. And the second is to ensure that we can prevent, detect and respond to future global health threats that we know.”
Prior to leading USAID, he was a special assistant to Obama and a senior director of development and democracy in the National Security Council. While working for Obama, he helped coordinate the government’s response to the Ebola epidemic.
Smith worked as a journalist across Africa and reported for a variety of international media outlets from Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya, among others, before launching the Enough project, which is dedicated to ending genocide.
The ONE campaign said she would be on temporary leave.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler, Kylie Atwood and Sydney Walton contributed to this report.