Vaccines. The United States said it would prioritize the worst-affected countries and encouraged Argentina’s expectations

WASHINGTON.- The government of Joe biden indicated that it will distribute vaccines against the coronavirus via the Covax mechanism but also bilaterally, taking into account the countries with the highest number of cases, the presence of new variants of the virus and new peaks of infections, and that Latin America “will be a priority” efforts to combat the pandemic.

The government of Alberto Fernandez hopes Biden’s donation will help bolster the vaccination campaign in Argentina, which is progressing much slower than expected and has forced Casa Rosada to impose a second lockdown.

The chancellor Felipe Solá earlier this week, held a meeting with the delegation Biden sent to Ecuador for the inauguration of Guillermo Lasso, which was headed by the US Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda thomas greenfield, and which included the Director for the Western Hemisphere of the White House Security Council, Juan Gonzalez, Biden’s most loyal man in Latin America.

One of the topics they discussed: logistics for delivering vaccines.

“We are going to provide 80 million vaccines and, of course, Latin America is one of the worst affected regions in the world., and that will be at the center of our efforts to fight the pandemic, ”González said on a conference call with reporters from the region.

González said the Biden government will distribute the vaccines through the United Nations Covax system ensuring they meet international standards. But González said the White House would share some of these vaccines “also bilaterally and looking at countries with the highest cases, highest cases of variants and peaks of infections.” One of the challenges is knowing what mechanism is used to dispense the vials.

“This will be at the center of the global response that the United States will lead”, noted the official.

González later indicated that Argentina “has the highest infection rate in the world“, And asked about the proposal of Foreign Minister Solá to send Argentine planes in search of routes, he said that they had agreed to consult the matter with the Argentine government.

“One of the challenges will definitely be vaccine delivery and they have made this offer and we are committed to consulting them closely as president. [Joe Biden] he is moving forward with the administration’s decision to share the vaccines, ”the official said. “There are a lot of discussions going on to make sure we support the regional response,” he said.

The Biden government will ship 20 million doses of licensed vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to other countries by the end of June., una entrega que se sumará a la donación ya anunciada de hasta 60 millones de dosis de AstraZeneca, that will be hoped for comience en las próximas semanas luego of which the Administración de Droga y Alimentos (FDA, según sus siglas en inglés) swallows the calidad de the vaccine.

“Just like in World War II, the United States was the arsenal of democracy in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, our nation will be the arsenal of vaccines with the rest of the world,” Biden promised .

The United States is behind China and Russia in “vaccine diplomacy,” and there is particular sensitivity in Washington regarding China’s advance in Latin America. As the vaccination campaign progresses in the United States, the White House is under increased pressure to share its vaccine arsenal with the rest of the world.

Argentina, which initially relied on the Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines, is one of the countries hoping to benefit from donations from the United States. The government of Alberto Fernández has made efforts in Washington to ensure that part of the doses to be given by the United States reach the country, where the advance of vaccination has been below expectations, and the second wave forced a new containment.

THE NATION