The U.S. promise to "share" the AstraZeneca vaccine is a bad check?
The first batch of 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine may be approved for export "in the coming weeks"
The US government made a promise on the 26th that once the supply is in place, the US will "share" 60 million doses of AstraZeneca's new crown vaccine with other countries in the fastest few weeks.
The US government has drawn criticism for refusing to provide vaccines to allies.
White House Press Secretary Jane Psaki said at a media briefing on the 26th that after the US Food and Drug Administration completes quality inspections, 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine may be approved for export in "the next few weeks."
Another approximately 50 million doses of vaccine are in production, or shipped in May and June.
According to Psaki, there is no AstraZeneca vaccine that can be exported to the United States for the time being, and the Biden administration has not yet decided on the procedure to determine which countries to share and how to "share" the vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was developed by the British Pharmaceuticals AstraZeneca in cooperation with Oxford University, and the production in the United States is handled by the Bayview plant in Baltimore, Maryland.
Because workers confuse the two vaccine raw materials, this factory has been asked to suspend production, and at least several months of rectification can resume production.
A spokesperson for AstraZeneca declined to comment on the details of the U.S. government's commitment to export vaccines, saying that AstraZeneca has promised to supply vaccines to the U.S. government, but "the decision to supply (vaccine) to other countries is made by the U.S. government."
According to Agence France-Presse, critics accuse the United States of "hoarding" AstraZeneca vaccine because the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Americans may not need to receive the vaccine.
The three vaccines currently approved for use in the United States are the new crown vaccine jointly developed by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. and the German Biotech Company, the new crown vaccine of Modena of the United States, and the new crown vaccine of Johnson & Johnson.
According to official U.S. data, more than 53% of adults in the U.S. have received at least one dose of the new crown vaccine. Vaccine supply is expected to cover the entire U.S. population in early summer, and domestic vaccination demand in the U.S. has begun to gradually decrease.
In recent weeks, the US government has faced pressure to share more coronavirus vaccines with other countries and regions.
Because of the surge in confirmed cases of new crowns in the country, India’s largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute has postponed the large-scale export of AstraZeneca vaccines since March, forcing many countries to seek adequate doses of vaccines to protect vulnerable populations.
The US government previously refused to provide vaccines produced in the United States to allies such as Mexico, Canada and the European Union.
Mexican President López Obrador complained that the United States was "hoarding" vaccines. "The most powerful country on earth, our neighbor, is doing worse than us."
Some NGOs criticized the U.S. government's new crown vaccine procurement policy, hoping that the White House will clearly set the purchase limit and share the vaccine with other countries.
The US government announced in March that it would "loan" about 4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico and Canada.
According to the arrangement, Mexico and Canada should "return" the corresponding amount of new crown vaccine later this year.
Respond to criticism
U.S. promises to lift the ban on vaccine raw material exports
The new crown epidemic in India has deteriorated sharply since April, with more than 300,000 newly diagnosed cases in a single day for several consecutive days, emergency beds in many places, and shortages of medical supplies.
The US government has been criticized by domestic public opinion for hoarding the new crown vaccine and restricting the export of vaccine raw materials.
Under the appeal of some congressmen and social groups, the US government promised to lift restrictions on the export of vaccine raw materials and assist India in fighting the epidemic.
In April last year, then US President Donald Trump used the National Defense Production Act to increase the production of medical supplies related to COVID-19 vaccination.
The U.S. approach caused the export of key raw materials to be halted, and the production of the new crown vaccine in other regions was therefore restricted.
Due to the tight epidemic situation in India, the Indian government has suspended the large-scale export of AstraZeneca vaccines produced by the Serological Institute of India, the largest domestic vaccine manufacturer, in March, giving priority to meeting domestic demand.
After entering April, the epidemic situation in India has further deteriorated.
According to data released by the Ministry of Health of India on the 27th, in the past 24 hours, there were more than 323,000 new confirmed cases and 2,771 new deaths in India; the cumulative number of confirmed cases was about 17.64 million, and the cumulative number of deaths was close to 198,000.
It is not easy for India to obtain the above-mentioned commitment from the US government.
The chief executive of the Serum Institute of India, Adal Punawara, directly tweeted on social media on the 16th, asking the Biden government to lift the export ban on raw materials for the new crown vaccine.
The Hindustan Times reported that on the topic of raw materials for the new crown vaccine, Indian Foreign Secretary Hash Shrinla and Foreign Minister Jason Su once negotiated with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and Secretary of State Anthony Brinken respectively.
The Hindustan Times reported that many members of the U.S. Congress and business people criticized the Biden administration for inaction in helping India fight the epidemic, and the U.S. government made a “slow response” under pressure from public opinion.
This group of articles/Xinhua News Agency