WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden’s administration stocks tens of millions of doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, approval for which remains uncertain in the US, frustrating US allies who say those doses should now be used to save lives abroad.
The standoff is part of a growing global debate about who should have access to hundreds of millions of doses of vaccine produced by pharmaceutical companies in the US. geopolitical rivals Russia and China.
A vaccine containing two doses of AstraZeneca has received an emergency permit from the European Union and the World Health Organization, but not from the US. Now US partners are urging Biden to release his stock, noting that the administration prepared enough doses of three already approved vaccines in late May to cover every US adult and the entire American population in late July.
AstraZeneca says the US-produced vaccines are “owned” by the US government and require White House approval for shipment abroad.
“We understand that other governments may have contacted the US government regarding the donation of AstraZeneca doses, and we have asked the US government to carefully consider these requests,” Gonzalo Viña, an AstraZeneca spokesman, said in a statement. statement.
While the 27-nation European Union longs to revive a more fruitful transatlantic relationship after Trump’s crushing presidency, the vaccination issue is proving to be a thorny topic, which some in Europe see as a continuation of that of former president Focus on “America First”.
The ambassadors of the EU member states discussed this challenge this week. The German government said on Friday that it was in contact with US officials about the supply of vaccines, but stressed that the European Commission is in the lead when it comes to obtaining shots for member states.
Biden and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, have instructed representatives to discuss supply chains in vaccine manufacturing.
“Hopefully we will be able on both sides of the Atlantic to ensure that adequate amounts of vaccine doses are distributed in accordance with the schedule to complete the vaccination campaigns,” said Eric Mamer, chief spokesman for the EU Commission.
More than 10 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine have been stored in the US for use here.
“We want to be oversupplied and overprepared,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday, so that Americans can still be vaccinated quickly in the event of unforeseen problems with the existing production timeline.
“We have not given US government doses to anyone,” she said.
When asked about the stored vaccine, Jeff Zients, White House COVID-19 coordinator said, “We have a small inventory of AstraZeneca, so if it gets approved, we can send that inventory to the American people. as soon as possible. ”He said the US was following the same procedure as for the already approved vaccines.
Drug manufacturers receiving federal assistance in developing or expanding vaccine production had to sell their first doses to the US. In the case of AstraZeneca, which was initially expected to be the first to receive a federal emergency permit, the government ordered 300 million doses – enough for 150 million Americans – before problems with the vaccine’s clinical trial stalled approval. ..
The company said this month it expects to have about 30 million doses available to the US government by the end of March, and another 20 million by the end of April.
As foreign regulators have gone ahead with the shot, the US has not dropped their contractual claim on the American-made initial doses.
That policy has also been criticized by US neighbors Canada and Mexico, which have been forced to seek vaccines produced on a different continent, rather than across the border. Meanwhile, the Biden administration has bought 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 US has also ordered 110 million doses of vaccine from Novavax, which is expected to file an emergency permit application next month.
AstraZeneca’s US trial of 30,000 people did not complete enrollment until January. The company has given no indication as to when the first results could be ready after an executive conference last month it expected to be “soon.”
The European Union, in the midst of its own stumbling block, seems increasingly to resign itself to the Biden administration retaining control over US doses.
The EU is also at odds with AstraZeneca, as the company delivers far fewer doses to the block than it promised. The company will struggle to deliver half of the first order of 80 million in the first quarter of this year.
Despite shortages at home and often accused of vaccine protectionism itself, the 27-country bloc has allowed the export of more than 34 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in recent weeks, including 953,723 to the United States.
Meanwhile, Russia and China have used their domestically produced vaccines for strategic leverage.
According to a country-by-country count by The Associated Press, China has pledged about half a billion doses to more than 45 countries. Four of China’s many vaccine manufacturers claim they will be able to produce at least 2.6 billion doses this year.
Russia has sent millions of doses of its Sputnik V vaccine to countries around the world, even if it vaccinates its own population. Analysts say a goal of this vaccine diplomacy is to bolster Russia’s image as a scientific, technological and benevolent power, especially as other countries are facing a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines as wealthier countries are boasting Western-made versions .
Israel, which vaccinated more than half of its population with Pfizer vaccines made in Europe, has also tried to use vaccine diplomacy to reward allies.
Biden has decided to make the US 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 US has yet to commit to all doses. to share. .
Casert and Petrequin reported from Brussels. Danika Kirka in London, Frank Jordans in Berlin and Lauran Neergaard in Washington contributed.
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