Democratic congressmen asked President Joe Biden to facilitate the sale of Cuban vaccines against COVID-19 as part of the relaxation of US policy towards the island.
According to the specialized media The Hillthe group has urged the president to “further soften sanctions against Cuba to help distribute vaccines” in the world.
“As an initial step, we ask that you review US policy toward Cuba to facilitate greater global equity in vaccines, with a particular focus on ensuring that US sanctions do not impede current or future efforts.” of Cuba to share COVID-19 vaccines and related vaccines, technology and medical support with low-income countries around the world,” Democrats Ayanna Pressley (Massachussetts) and Steve Cohen (Tennessee) wrote in a letter.
In the letter, both praise the relaxation of travel and remittance restrictions and request bilateral cooperation in Public Health.
The lawmakers argue that low-income countries need vaccines and currently cannot access those distributed in richer countries.
These projections have often been rejected by advocates of a tougher Cuba policy, but Biden has indicated he will roll back other restrictions imposed by the Trump administration on the communist island, especially those involving humanitarian issues.
In this regard, those who signed the letter recognized that the success of the Cuban vaccine has not yet been fully verified by the international medical community. The World Health Organization has not commented on the matter.
Cuba and the WHO have met twice to begin the approval process for Cuban immunizations for “Emergency Use,” but approval has not yet been finalized.
Congressmen are trying to build on the momentum of measures recently implemented by Biden such as the revocation of restrictions on flights to the interior of Cuba imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump.
The order was issued two weeks ago by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) and ended the ban on US flights to Cuban airports outside of Havana.
Since the end of 2019, regular passenger flights from the United States could only be made to the country’s capital, although some airlines were authorized to carry humanitarian cargo to airports in other Cuban provinces.
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