Joe Biden says he wants to lead vaccination by …

From Washington, DC.“If we have a surplus, we will share it with the rest of the world”, Joe Biden said last March when he announced millions of doses for distribution in the United States. Two months later, the North American country has, for weeks, vaccines accumulate in pharmacies to which it is no longer necessary to take turns. He has the luxury of trying to convince with multi-million dollar prizes to those who need to get the flat tire. The overall picture of the pandemic could not have a greater contrast: As New York and Washington eliminate security measures inside bars and restaurants and Miami vaccinates even on the beach, crematoriums in India cannot. not track the number of coronavirus deaths.

The United States government faces questions inside and outside the country for vaccine nationalism unfolding as other regions of the world go through a critical moment of the pandemic. Against this backdrop, Biden said last Monday that the United States would send 20 million more Covid vaccines overseas than it had already announced. This will bring the number of doses the North American country plans to give to 80 million. “There will be more vaccines than any country has shared to date, five times more than any country, more than Russia and China, which gave 15 million doses“, He added.

With the comparison, Biden echoed another lingering criticism, but one that comes from the opposition side: As the government continues to prioritize the campaign in the United States, His two main rivals are months ahead of him in vaccine diplomacy. Not with donations, but with the sale of millions of doses in Asia, Africa and South America. “You know, there is a lot of talk about the influence in the world of Russia and China of the vaccine. We want to lead the world with our values ​​”, justified the president.

In the week, the republican Mitt Romney, a senator from Utah, urged the government to speed up the delivery of vaccines to countries that need it most. In a letter addressed to the State Department, in charge of the country’s diplomacy, the former presidential candidate questioned the delay in distribution from a strategic and national security point of view: “While Russia and China have acted on this issue, the United States seems to be deciding what to do. “

For Romney, not only the 80 million doses announced so far are not enough, but it is also necessary to open a dialogue with the countries and to implement a strategy of distribution of the vaccines to these countries. What the senator also wants is above all a timetable that will allow us to know when the vaccines will arrive in each country. “I was shocked to learn that while China and Russia are shipping vaccines to countries in desperate need of them, the United States is still in the planning and priority setting stage and have not yet communicated in detail to countries around the world when they can wait for the doses, ”he said in his letter.

According to the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, the shipment of the American donation will take place at the end of June. The government has not given more details on how it will do it or which countries it will be destined for. “The president reaffirmed his commitment to lead an international and coordinated vaccination action,” said the White House only. We know that 60 million will be AstraZeneca, doses produced in the United States, but which have not yet received approval from the Food and Drug Administration and therefore cannot leave the country. The remaining 20 million will come from authorized vaccines (Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson).

The Biden administration is seeking “concrete commitments” from other governments and private sector partners to increase vaccine availability. But little is known about how the United States intends to help distribute vaccines around the world or which countries will benefit. Until now, the clearest destinations for its surplus were neighboring Mexico and Canada. South Korea will be added to the list, who will receive vaccinations for his army.

During a visit by the South Korean President, Moon jae-in, in Washington, Biden announced on Friday that the United States would provide vaccines to some 550,000 troops in the Asian country. He also announced an agreement for the production of Moderna and Novavax vaccines in South Korea.

The contrast with the rest of the world is obscene. After the Centers for Disaster Control and Prevention To relax their recommendations on measures against Covid, cities like New York and Washington have removed the chinstrap requirement and allowed bars, restaurants and other establishments behind closed doors without capacity limits.

More than 61% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the United States. After reaching the peak of 3.38 million doses delivered per day last April, today the vaccination rate is barely 1.87 million daily doses and vaccines are accumulated unused in the various centers and pharmacies that distribute them.

The big challenge facing the vaccination campaign in the United States today is reaching those who are suspicious of the vaccine or who have had difficulty accessing it. The distribution was not the same for all sectors. Different analyzes show that blacks or Latinos have been vaccinated in a lower proportion than they have in the number of coronavirus cases and in the total population. To encourage vaccination, states like New York, Maryland and Oregon have announced lotteries with multi-million dollar prizes to be drawn among those who received the flat tire.

“The United States will continue to donate our surplus as suppliers deliver it to us,” the Biden administration said this week. But for now, vaccines that don’t reach a local branch are reserved for foreigners entering American soil. Texas and Florida exploit vaccine tourism and they are starting to give doses to those who can travel from Latin America. Northern states also arrive from Canada, where only 4% of the population has a full vaccination program and where it seems to be faster and easier to cross the border.