February 7 According to Duke University data, the United States and other rich countries have hoarded coronavirus vaccines and basically “sweeped the global vaccine shelves”. Even the American media can’t see this extremely unfair competition.
The Capitol Hill newspaper published an article entitled “Overseas vaccine dilemma or troubles the United States” on the 6th, saying that the move may extend the coronavirus pandemic indefinitely, and the United States cannot be alone.
The country and its allies should donate the surplus vaccines hoarded to other low-income countries.
The full text is excerpted as follows:
The U.S. federal government and state coronavirus vaccination activities are slowly progressing, but unfair competition for overseas vaccine doses may prolong the coronavirus pandemic indefinitely.
According to Duke University’s procurement tracking data, rich countries have basically emptied the vaccine shelves and obtained nearly 60% of the global vaccine supply.
The pre-ordered vaccine dose in the United States alone can meet more than twice the vaccination needs of their population.
In the early days of the pandemic, public health experts warned of the danger of “vaccine nationalism” – high-income countries would hoard vaccines for their own people.
And almost a year later, these warnings have largely become a reality.
“While vaccines offer hope to some people, they’re also another brick inequitable barrier between the world’s rich and poor countries,” WHO Director General Tedros Tedros said in a speech in January.
Tedros warned against adopting the “I First” vaccination method, believing that the world is on the verge of a disastrous moral failure, which will cost the life and livelihood of the poorest country in the world.
Experts believe that the United States will not return to normal until the rest of the world is also vaccinated with the emergence of a more infectious new mutant virus.” We live in a global community and if we really want to explore the path to get our lives back to normal, we must solve the problem at the global level.” Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said at a recent Washington Post event.
Fauci said that whenever the virus spreads and outbreaks around the world, the United States will always be in danger.
The previous U.S. government adopted an “America First” attitude towards vaccines, and former President Trump even tried to prevent Congress from approving $4 billion for the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization.
And while the Biden administration announced its intention to join the WHO-led Coronavirus Vaccine Implementation Plan (COVAX), conservatives in the United States may have difficulty in accepting the move to increase aid for the global pandemic.
Experts point out that providing additional funds to projects such as COVAX may be the easiest way to provide them, which are seriously short of funds.
COVAX announced this week that it aims to distribute more than 300 million doses of vaccine by the end of June, but that’s only enough to cover 3% of the population in receiving countries.
“Vaccine doses are seriously insufficient,” said Mebaduke, program director of the U.S. Consumer Protection Organization. The world, including the United States, needs to respond to the virus more vigorously.
The best and possibly the least realistic solution is that the United States donates the surplus vaccine stockpiled to international vaccination efforts and drums. Encourage America’s allies to do the same.
Some experts admit that it is not easy to publicize the idea of external vaccines to the public before herd immunity is achieved in the United States.
But the United States should shoulder its moral responsibility to provide vaccines to developing countries and low-income countries to achieve “global herd immunity”.
