On Tuesday, the Trump administration denied working with an international cooperative effort to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine because it does not want to be constrained by multilateral groups like the World Health Organization.
The Washington Post first reported the decision to go it alone which follows the White House’s decision in early July to pull the United States out of the WHO. Trump claims the WHO needs reform and is heavily influenced by China.
There are Some nations who have put their effort to secure supplies of vaccine, but others are merging efforts to ensure success against a disease that has no geographical boundaries.
That cooperative effort of more than 150 countries who are setting up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX, has been linked with the WHO. It would allow the nation to take advantage of a portfolio of potential vaccines to ensure their citizens are promptly covered by whichever ones are considered effective.
The WHO Utters, governments dealings with individual vaccine makers would be beneficial from joining COVAX, because, in case the bilateral ones being made through bilateral deals with manufacturers aren’t successful the government will have a backup vaccine.
”The United States will continue to engage our international partners to ensure we defeat this virus, but we will not be constrained by multilateral organizations influenced by the corrupt World Health Organization and China,” said White House spokesman Judd Deere.
Rep. Ami Bera, D-Calif., said the administration’s decision was short sighted and will hamper the battle to end the pandemic.
”Joining COVAX is a simple measure to guarantee U.S. access to a vaccine no matter who develops it first,” tweeted Bera, a medical doctor.
America’s risk of not getting a vaccine increases because of this go-it-alone approach.
The decision by the administration has linked with the U.S. withdrawal from the WHO, implies the U.S. is relinquishing America’s global supremacy in fighting pandemics, according to Tom Hart, North America director at The ONE Campaign, an advocacy organization co-founded by Bono of the rock band U2.
“Not only does this move put the lives of millions around the world at risk, it could completely isolate Americans from an effective vaccine against COVID-19, Hart said.
A handful of the dozens of experimental COVID-19 vaccines in the human trial have reached the last and biggest obstacle looking for the demanded evidence that they work.
On Monday, AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine candidate entered the final testing stage in the U.S. The Cambridge, England-based company said, ”The study will involve up to 30,000 adults from various racial, ethnic and geographic groups.’’
This summer, Two other vaccine candidates commenced ultimate trial in tens of thousands of people in the U.S. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.