Appointed Secretary of State Anthony Blink
Antony Blinken For Joe Biden, an experienced foreign policy team Biden selects Wendy Sherman for the state department position no. 2 Overnight Defense: Agency Watchdogs Investigating Response to Chapter Riots | 25,000 guards have now approved the inauguration security Troop levels in Afghanistan, Iraq have reached 2,500 MORE said the president-elect Joe Biden
A woman accused of trying to sell Pelosi’s laptop to Russians arrested in Trump receives the lowest job approval rating in recent days, while President Trump lifts lifting restrictions on coronavirus travel in Europe, Brazil MORE intends to join Covax, the effort led by the World Health Organization to develop and distribute a coronavirus vaccine in low- and middle-income countries.
Previously, Biden had not formally pledged to participate in the initiative.
“We strongly believe we can make sure every American gets the vaccine, but we can also make sure that others around the world who want it have access to it,” Blinken told senators during a confirmation hearing Tuesday.
The September Trump administration said it would not join the alliance, sparking criticism from public health experts who said it was a short-sighted view of a global effort.
Virtually every country in the world participates in the initiative, with the exception of the USA and Russia.
The then Trump administration has said it does not want to be “constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by World Health Organization and China corruption.”
Global health agencies have launched the Covax project to ensure that poor and developing countries can access a coronavirus vaccine at the same rate as rich and developed nations.
WHO officials say Covax needs additional funding to meet its goal of vaccinating at least 20% of the population in each country by the end of 2021.
According to the WHO, Covax has already ordered 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with options for another 1 billion.
But the organization warns that rich countries are accumulating doses of vaccine, which could delay the delivery of Covax-funded vaccines and endanger poor countries. Health experts warn that the pandemic will not end until it is controlled globally.
Laura Kelly contributed