White House’s Second Global COVID Summit Suffers From Late and Anemic Response as Pandemic Death Estimates Skyrocket
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The White House today announced that it is rescheduling its Second Global COVID summit for May 12. This comes on the heels of reports that the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to announce an estimated 15 million deaths from the pandemic, far higher than previous estimates. Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen’s Access to Medicines program, issued the following statement:
“The White House’s response to the global pandemic has been late and anemic. This summit is late and necessary. The U.S. could show up empty-handed to its own summit, making it harder to summon commitments, unless Congress funds the global fight. $5 billion is the bare minimum; far less than what is needed. The White House needs to fight like hell for that money and much more.”