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WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration is storing tens of millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine whose authorization in the United States remains uncertain, frustrating American allies who say these doses should be used now to save lives abroad.
The stalemate is part of a growing global debate over who should have access to the hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine pharmaceutical companies produce in the U.S. In addition to generating ill will, Biden’s insistence on oversupply for America potentially creates new openings for geopolitical rivals Russia and China.
Two-dose AstraZeneca vaccine received emergency clearance from the European Union and the World Health Organization, but not from the United States. Now, U.S. partners are pushing Biden to release his supply, noting that the administration has lined up enough doses of three already licensed vaccines to cover every American adult by the end of May. and the entire American population at the end of July.
AstraZeneca says vaccines produced in the United States are “the property” of the US government and that sending them overseas would require White House approval.
“We understand that other governments may have contacted the United States government regarding the donation of doses of AstraZeneca, and we have asked the United States government to give careful consideration to these requests,” said Gonzalo Viña, a spokesperson for AstraZeneca, in a statement.
Even though the 27-nation European Union is eager to relaunch a more fruitful transatlantic relationship after Trump’s murderous presidency, the vaccine issue is proving to be a thorny subject, with some in Europe seeing it as a continuation of former President Donald Trump. Focus “America First”.
Ambassadors from EU member states discussed the challenge this week. The German government said on Friday it was in contact with U.S. officials over the vaccine supply, but stressed that the European Commission was leading when it comes to supplying member states.
Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen asked representatives to discuss supply chains in vaccine production.
“Hopefully we will be able on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that sufficient quantities of vaccine doses are distributed on schedule in order to complete vaccination campaigns,” said European Commission spokesperson Eric My sea.
More than 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine are stored in the United States for use here.
“We want to be overworked and over-prepared,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday so that Americans can still be vaccinated quickly in the event of unforeseen problems with the existing production schedule.
“We didn’t provide US government doses to anyone,” she said.
Asked about the vaccine stock, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said, “We have a small inventory of AstraZeneca so if it’s approved we can get that inventory to the American people. as quickly as possible. ”He said the United States was following the same procedure it had used for vaccines already authorized.
Drugmakers who received federal aid to develop or expand vaccine manufacturing were required to sell their first doses in the U.S. In the case of AstraZeneca, whose vaccine was initially to be the first to receive approval As a federal emergency, the government ordered 300 million doses – enough for 150 million Americans – before problems with the vaccine’s clinical trial delayed clearance.
The company said this month that it expects to have around 30 million doses in the U.S. government by the end of March, with an additional 20 million by the end of April.
While foreign regulators have moved forward with the shot, the United States has not abandoned its contractual claim over the initial doses produced in America.
This policy was also criticized by neighbors in the United States, Canada and Mexico, who were forced to search for a vaccine made on another continent, rather than across the border. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has purchased enough doses of Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson to inoculate 150 million more people than the U.S. population by the end of the year.
The United States has also ordered 110 million doses of the vaccine from Novavax, which is expected to apply for emergency authorization as early as next month.
AstraZeneca’s 30,000-person US trial did not complete registration until January. The company has given no indication of when the first results could be ready, beyond an executive who told Congress last month that he expected it to be “soon.”
The European Union, in the midst of its own vaccine rollout, seems increasingly resigned to the Biden administration retaining control of US doses.
The EU also disagrees with AstraZeneca, as the company is delivering far fewer doses to the block than it had promised. On the initial order of 80 million in the first quarter of this year, the company will struggle to deliver half of it.
Despite shortages at home and often accused of vaccine protectionism itself, the 27-nation bloc has authorized the export of well over 34 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in recent weeks, including 953,723 to states -United.
Meanwhile, Russia and China have used their domestically produced vaccines for strategic leverage.
China has pledged about half a billion doses to more than 45 countries, according to a country-by-country tally by The Associated Press. Four of China’s many vaccine makers say they will be able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year.
Russia sent millions of doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to countries around the world, even as it vaccinates its own population. Analysts say one of the goals of this vaccine diplomacy is to bolster Russia’s image as a scientific, technological and benevolent powerhouse, especially as other countries face COVID-vaccine shortages. 19 because the richer countries recover the versions made in the West.
Israel, which has vaccinated more than half of its population with Pfizer vaccines produced in Europe, has also attempted to use vaccine diplomacy to reward its allies.
Biden arranged for the United States to contribute financially to the United Nations and World Health Organization-backed COVAX alliance, which will help share the vaccine with more than 90 low- and middle-income countries, but The United States has not yet committed to dose sharing. .
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Casert and Petrequin reported from Brussels. Danika Kirka in London, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed.
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Follow all of AP’s pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic, https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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