Appointed Secretary of State Tony Blinken announced Tuesday in a confirmation hearing that President-elect Biden would bring the U.S. to the COVAX initiative, the global effort of the World Health Organization and other groups to ensure that all countries have access to COVID-19 vaccines. .
Why it’s important: Virtually everyone has joined COVAX, apart from the United States and Russia. It is expected to be the only source of vaccines in some of the world’s poorest countries and needs additional funding to meet its goal of vaccinating at least 20% of the population of all countries by the end of 2021.
- COVAX is designed so that high- and middle-income countries provide funding to develop and distribute vaccines, effectively subsidizing access for low-income countries.
- The United States would probably play the role of financier, rather than recipient, given the hundreds of millions of doses the country has already bought directly.
- What to see: Canada is developing a mechanism that would allow countries that bought more doses than they ultimately needed to give them through COVAX.
What it says: “We firmly believe we can do it: make sure all Americans get the vaccine, but also help make sure other people around the world who want it have access to it,” Blinken said of his joined COVAX.
The other side: The Trump administration refused to join, citing China’s influence over the WHO.
- Blinken said that while the WHO “needed reforms,” the U.S. would be better off having a seat at the table.
In depth: Rich countries are taking the fast path to the vaccine. Others could wait years