Biden’s “Vaccine Arsenal” Sputters
Report: U.S. Unlikely to Meet Vaccine Commitment to World
Washington, D.C. – A new report from Public Citizen outlines how President Biden is unlikely to meet his commitment to ship more than a billion coronavirus vaccine doses by the end of September 2022 unless far more resources are provided for America’s vaccine “arsenal”. The report shows that the U.S. would have to donate 626 million doses in 7 months, or about 90 million doses per month, to fulfill the President’s original commitment. That would require increasing the donation rate by 50 percent. By the end of February 2022, the U.S. had shipped only 474 million doses, donating doses at a rate of 60 million a month in recent months. The White House omitted the timeline target from its COVID-19 plan issued last week.
Meanwhile, nearly 90 countries are not on pace to meet the global target of vaccinating 70% of their population—a target endorsed by President Biden.
Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines program, issued the following statement on the report findings:
“The United States is failing to meet its vaccine commitments to the world. To meet the billion-plus dose goal, it will take far more funding than the White House has requested – $17 billion rather than five – and far more ambitious leadership than the White House has shown.
“The global COVID-19 response is in desperate need of resources to deliver shots, testing and treatment. Many people, and many nations, are counting on vaccines the United States has promised. The cost of the White House’s failure to act will be measured in people’s lives and a longer pandemic.”