(Washington) Le président américain Joe Biden a annoncé lundi l’envoi de 20 millions de doses supplémentaires de vaccins contre la COVID-19 vers des pays tiers, martelant que l’approche des états-Unis était différente de celle de la Chine et de Russia.
The United States has been criticized for being late in sharing vaccines, and has assured that the pace will now accelerate dramatically.
“Today, I announce that we are sharing the doses of Moderna, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson with the rest of the world,” the White House tenant announced, referring to the three vaccines in the possession of the US health authorities. This day, given the green light.
80 million doses
The announcement brings the total number of vaccine doses promised by the world’s leading power since the start of the pandemic to 80 million.
Joe Biden insisted that “this will make the vaccines more than any other country at any time, five times that of any other country,” while stressing that he intends to move away from the “vaccine diplomacy” used by Beijing and Moscow, as he said.
He continued: “There is a lot of talk about Russia and China using vaccines as a way to increase their influence around the world.” We want to be an example for our values […] We will not use our vaccines to obtain concessions from other countries. ”
If he insists that this is the “right thing” to do, then the forty-sixth president of the United States has also outlined the well-understood interest of the United States. “We know that America will not be completely safe until the epidemic is under global control,” he said, referring in particular to the possibility of new alternatives emerging.
Joe Biden in particular has shown his desire to work within the international Covax regime, which should allow least developed countries to obtain precious doses.
For Tom Hart, president of the NGO ONE, the White House announcement is a “welcome step” in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go.
“As vaccination accelerates in rich countries, less than 1% of the doses of COVID-19 vaccines are given to people who live in low-income countries,” he said.
When asked which countries would benefit from these US vaccines, Jane Psaki, a White House spokeswoman, remained elusive, simply promising details about allocation criteria “in the coming days.”
Washington has pledged to supply 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries, but AstraZeneca has yet to receive the green light from US health authorities and so shipments have not started.
She criticized Russia and China
At the end of April, the European Union strongly condemned the position of Moscow and Beijing on this issue.
The countries ’” vaccine diplomacy “was accused of” efforts of misinformation and manipulation aimed at undermining confidence in vaccines made in the West. “
In assessing the situation in the United States, Joe Biden also welcomed the dizzying improvement recorded in recent weeks.
“The battle against this virus is not over yet […] But every day the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter. “
“For the first time since the start of the epidemic, cases of Covid-19 virus have decreased in all 50 states,” he added, adding that 60% of American adults have now received at least one injection.