Washington:
US President Joe Biden will announce Wednesday the US plans to donate an extra 500 million Pfizer-BioNTech Covid vaccines to the rest of the world, bringing its total commitment to 1.1 billion, officials mentioned.
Biden will relay the news at a virtual summit to be held on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, exactly where he will challenge world leaders to vaccinate 70 per cent of each nation by September 2022.
The donations are becoming made “free of charge, no strings attached,” a senior administration official mentioned ahead of the meeting.
“For every one shot we have administered in this country to date, we are now donating three shots to other countries,” she added.
In his very first speech to the UN as president on Tuesday, Biden told delegates that the United States had place more than $15 billion towards the international Covid response and shipped more than 160 million doses to other nations.
The United States and other wealthy nations have been criticized by the World Health Organization for their plans to roll out booster shots for elderly and higher-threat populations, even though a great deal of the world faces a serious shortage in doses.
However, the administration official mentioned, “We’re proving that you can take care of your own, while helping others as well.”
70 % target
Despite the development of protected and very helpful vaccines in record-breaking time, big disparities exist in between nations with ample provide and other individuals that have barely begun their immunization campaign.
Just 3.6 % of Africa’s eligible population has been inoculated — compared with an typical of more than 60 % in Western Europe.
Biden has invited heads of state, leaders of international organizations, private sector philanthropies, and NGOs for the summit, which starts about 11:00 am Eastern Time (1500 GMT).
“The president will call on world leaders to elevate the global level of ambition to end the Covid pandemic in 2022, and to build back better health security to prevent and prepare for future pandemics,” mentioned a second US official.
Washington will seek to rally the world about 3 objectives: growing vaccine provide saving lives now by resolving the oxygen crisis and access to testing, medicine and therapeutics and lastly enhancing future preparedness.
On vaccines, Biden will set an “ambitious target, which will require all countries to step up, so that every country, including low income and low middle income countries can achieve 70 percent vaccination before UNGA (United Nations General Assembly) of next year,” the official mentioned.
The summit will include things like sessions chaired by Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and will be attended by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom.
While the most current international wave peaked in late August, the virus continues to spread swiftly, especially in the United States which is officially the worst-hit nation.
Some 4.7 million have died due to the fact the outbreak started in China in December 2019, according to an AFP tally from official sources.
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