Loyce Pace, director of Global Affairs for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) said Wednesday that groups “historically marginalized or disadvantaged” will be a priority on the US agenda to access the COVID-19 vaccines that Washington will donate.
“There is certainly a commitment to equality on our agenda … and that includes people who are historically marginalized or disadvantaged in terms of what they can access, including vaccines,” Pace said.
Although the official did not refer to any specific country, her statements come after President Joe Biden will participate in the global summit on vaccines, held simultaneously with the United Nations General Assembly.
During the event the president promised to donate 500 million additional vaccines to countries struggling to overcome the pandemic. This new shipment will be from Pfizer and, he said, “will be destined for low- and middle-income countries.”
Additionally, Biden called on wealthy nations to make more efforts to control the coronavirus.
Pace explained that, before assisting any nation, the United States must, together with the countries of the region, “develop a kind of roadmap”, which includes the commitment of those who have already vaccinated their population, companies and others. stakeholders to share doses or make contributions.
“Then we could draw a map (…) and what the regional impact will be,” said the official.
The United States and other rich countries were criticized by the World Health Organization for its plans to implement booster vaccines for seniors and high-risk populations, while much of the world faces severe dose shortages.
Speaking to the Voice of america, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, assured that those most affected by the “inequity in the distribution of vaccines” are the refugees.
“The problem is that 90% of the refugees are in poor or developing countries. They are the people who have been most penalized with this great inequity in the distribution of vaccines.”
On Tuesday, at the UN General Assembly, Colombian President Iván Duque denounced the “failures of multilateralism” to respond to the pandemic, and stated that “the existing gaps” between nations regarding the vaccination process “are unheard of.”
Other leaders such as Carlos Alvarado Quesada of Costa Rica and humanitarian organizations have also put on the table the inequalities of access to vaccines between rich and poor countries.
In his first speech to the United Nations as president, Biden told delegates that Washington had allocated more than $ 15 billion to the global response to the pandemic.
To date, the Biden Administration has already shipped approximately 160 million doses to more than 100 countries.
* With information from Jorge Agobian, from New York, and Lenny Castro writing.
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