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Trump's Republican Admin Will Not Join Global Effort to Develop And Distribute COVID-19 Vaccine
As Trump continues to ignore the COVID-19 global pandemic, the rest of the world is taking action.
The Trump administration said it will not join a global effort to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine.... a decision that could shape the course of the pandemic....
.... the vaccine alliance.... is backed by traditional U.S. allies, including Japan, Germany and the European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union. More than 170 countries are in talks to participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax) Facility, which aims to speed vaccine development, secure doses for all countries and distribute them to the most high-risk segment of each population.
Some members of the Trump administration were interested in a more cooperative approach but were ultimately overruled.
In Dan Rather's book "What Unites Us," he wrote about the amazing story of the elimination of smallpox and American leadership of a global response. The Trump Administration’s approach to COVID will be viewed as a dark chapter here and abroad.
Trump and Republican refusal to join the global effort to find a vaccine hurts Americans and will reduce our role as a leader in global health efforts for years to come.
The Covax decision....is effectively a doubling down by the administration on its bet that the United States will win the vaccine race. It eliminates the chance to secure doses from a pool of promising vaccine candidates — a potentially risky approach.
“America is taking a huge gamble by taking a go-it-alone strategy,” said Lawrence Gostin, a professor of global health law at Georgetown University.
Kendall Hoyt, an assistant professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine, said the move was akin to opting out of an insurance policy.
The United States could be pursuing bilateral deals with drug companies and simultaneously participating in Covax, Hoyt said, increasing its odds of getting some doses of the first safe vaccine. “Just from a simple risk-management perspective, this [Covax decision] is shortsighted, she said.
"America First" doesn't apply to pandemics. Viruses don't observe national borders. If anyone is at risk, we all are. Refusing to cooperate with other countries on vaccines will kill people.
WHO officials have argued that countries need not choose — they can pursue both strategies by signing bilateral deals and also joining Covax.
Proponents of a multilateral approach to global public health would like to see all countries coordinate through Covax.
Some cautioned against a focus on “winning” the race. Given the complexity of supply chains, vaccine development will necessarily be a global effort, regardless of whether countries want to cooperate.