Secretary-of-State Tony Blinken announced in a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that President-elect Biden will bring the United States to the COVAX initiative – the global effort of the World Health Organization and other groups to ensure that each country has access to COVID vaccines -19. .
Why does it matter: Virtually the whole world has joined COVAX, except the USA and Russia. It is expected to be the only source of vaccines for some of the world’s poorest countries and needs additional funding to meet its goal of vaccinating at least 20% of each country’s population by the end of 2021.
- COVAX is designed to provide high- and middle-income countries with funding for vaccine development and distribution, effectively subsidizing access for low-income countries in the process.
- The US would probably play the role of financier, rather than beneficiary, given the hundreds of millions of doses the country has already bought directly.
- What to look for: Canada is developing a mechanism to allow countries that have purchased more doses than they ultimately need to donate through COVAX.
What it says: “We strongly believe we can do that – to make sure every American gets the vaccine, but we also make sure that others around the world who want it have access to it,” Blinken said of joining COVAX.
The other side: The Trump administration has refused to join, citing China’s influence over the WHO.
- Blinken said that while the WHO “needed reform,” the United States would do better to have a seat at the table.
Go deeper: Rich countries are adopting the vaccine fast track. Others may wait years