Designated Secretary of State Antony Blink
Antony BlinkenFor Joe Biden, Veteran Foreign Policy Team Biden Wendy Sherman Chooses State Department No. 2 After Overnight Defense: Agency Watch Dogs Investigate Response to Capitol Riots | 25,000 guards now approved for inauguration security | The number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq hit MORE 2500 said the president-elect Joe Biden
Woman accused of selling Pelosi laptop to arrested Russians Trump gets lowest job approval rating in recent days as President Trump wants to lift coronavirus travel restrictions in Europe and Brazil. plans to join Covax, the World Health Organization-led effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine and distribute it to low- and middle-income countries.
Biden had previously not officially committed to participating in the initiative.
“We are confident that we can ensure that every American gets the vaccine, as well as help ensure that others around the world who want it have access to it,” Blinken told senators at a confirmation hearing Tuesday.
The Trump administration said in September that it would not join the alliance, sparking criticism from public health experts who said it represented a shortsighted view of a global effort.
Virtually every country in the world is participating in the initiative, except the US and Russia.
The Trump administration said at the time that it did not want to be “limited by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China.”
Global health agencies launched the Covax project to ensure that poor and developing countries could access a coronavirus vaccine at the same pace as rich and developed countries.
WHO officials have said Covax needs additional funding to achieve its goal of vaccinating at least 20 percent of the population in each country by the end of 2021.
According to WHO, Covax has already ordered 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with options for 1 billion more.
But the organization warns that rich countries are hoarding vaccine doses, which could slow the delivery of Covax-funded vaccines and put poor countries at risk. Health experts warn that the pandemic will not end until it is under global control.
Laura Kelly contributed