A health worker applies a Sinovac’s CoronaVac coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine to an older citzen in Sao Goncalo, near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Feb. 18, 2021.
Ricardo Moraes | Reuters
President Joe Biden is expected to announce Friday that the US will spend $ 4 billion on international vaccination efforts against Covid, White House officials said.
During his first virtual meeting as president with G7 leaders, Biden will also urge other countries to pledge more money for the global fight against the pandemic, officials said in a conference call Thursday afternoon.
“This pandemic will not end unless we end it globally,” an official said, noting that vaccinating Americans remains the government’s “top priority”.
“But pandemics travel,” the official said, and “the more diseases there are, the more likely we will see more mutations and variants.”
The funds were appropriated by Congress as part of the Covid emergency bill that was signed into law in late December with overwhelming bipartisan support, despite former President Donald Trump calling the package a “ disgrace. ”
The Biden government plans to contribute half of that $ 4 billion “almost immediately” to the global nonprofit vaccine alliance Gavi, an official said.
Gavi is a co-leader of COVAX, an international initiative that aims to increase access to Covid vaccines. The initial $ 2 billion delivery from the US aims to increase access to the Covid vaccine for 92 low- and middle-income economies, supported by COVAX’s Advance Market Commitment.
The government plans to disburse the remaining $ 2 billion in phases through 2022, officials said, with the aim of encouraging other donors to increase their contributions.
“In effect, we want to turn this into a way to turn $ 2 billion into multi-billion dollars,” an official said during the call, proposing a goal of at least $ 15 billion, “which is likely to be needed to deliver the the vaccine around the world. “
The government stressed that the globally targeted funds will not affect the US domestic vaccination program. Officials said if Congress passes the additional Covid bill pushed by Biden and the Democratic lawmakers, they expect enough vaccine to be delivered to meet their timeline goals.
“If we have sufficient supplies, our intention is to donate surplus vaccines abroad,” said an official.
When asked about the importance of supporting global vaccination efforts, an official said, “In addition to saving many lives … from a national security and economic perspective, it is also the right choice to benefit everyone in America. “