In Advance of
Upcoming Global COVID-19 Vaccine Summit, Senator Says US Leadership is
Necessary to Vaccinate Global Population and End Pandemic
WASHINGTON (September 17, 2021) - U.S. Senator Edward J.
Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) in calling on
President Joe Biden to expand the United States' global vaccine production
and delivery for low- and middle- income countries.
Ahead of the upcoming international summit on global
COVID-19 vaccine access, Sen. Smith urged the Biden Administration to make firm
commitments to expand global COVID-19 vaccine access. Sen. Smith said that
without U.S. leadership in this area, we will not be able to vaccinate the
global population and end the COVID-19 pandemic.
“According to experts, 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses
are needed to vaccinate 70% of the global population and significantly reduce
the spread of the virus. So far, 5.82 billion doses have been administered
globally, but less than 2% of the population living in low-income countries
received even one dose. Clearly, there is an inequitable distribution of
COVID-19 vaccine doses, and it is getting worse,” wrote Sen. Smith and her colleagues. “Despite
promises and pledges from some wealthy countries to donate nearly 1 billion
doses to the global effort, only 15% of those donations have actually been
distributed. Last week, COVAX announced that its 2021 forecast for
COVID-19 doses available for distribution would be reduced by a quarter, from
1.9 billion to 1.4 billion. The United States can and should improve
COVID-19 vaccine access for low- and middle-income countries and lead the
entire world out of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Sen. Smith's letter was signed by Senators Tammy
Baldwin (D-Wis.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), and
Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.). It was also signed by Representatives Raja
Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8) and Mark Pocan (D-WI-2).
You can read a copy of the letter
here
or below.
September 16, 2021
President Joseph R.
Biden
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave
NW
Washington, DC
20500
Dear President Biden:
Thank you for your leadership to strengthen the
international response to the COVID-19 pandemic and your call to convene an
international summit on global COVID-19 vaccine access. In advance of
this important convening, we write to urge you to take additional steps
and make firm commitments to ramp up global vaccine manufacturing and
delivery. Without additional U.S. leadership in this area, we will not be
able to vaccinate the global population and end the COVID-19
pandemic.
We appreciate your promise that the United
States will serve as the “arsenal of vaccines” for the world, including your
leadership to procure and donate nearly 600 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to
COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX), more than any other country in the
world.
[1]
We further commend the recent announcement to invest $2.7 billion in vaccine
manufacturing, the Quad Vaccine Partnership and its support of local production
of COVID-19 vaccines around the world, and your commitment to work with global
partners to end the pandemic by 2022.
[2],[3], [4]
In addition, we are grateful for your leadership in joining and securing
additional funding for COVAX earlier this year.
Despite these important actions, more is needed
to expand global COVID-19 vaccine access and production and position the
United States as the arsenal of vaccines for the world. According to
experts, 11 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses are needed to vaccinate 70% of the
global population and significantly reduce the spread of the virus.
[5]
So far, 5.82 billion doses have been administered globally, but less than 2% of
the population living in low-income countries received even one dose.
[6]
Clearly, there is an inequitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccine doses, and it
is getting worse. Despite promises and pledges from some wealthy
countries to donate nearly 1 billion doses to the global effort, only 15% of
those donations have actually been distributed.
[7] Last
week, COVAX announced that its 2021 forecast for COVID-19 doses available for
distribution would be reduced by a quarter, from 1.9 billion to 1.4 billion.
[8] The
United States can and should improve COVID-19 vaccine access for low- and
middle-income countries and lead the entire world out of the COVID-19
pandemic.
There are several reasons why the United States
should lead global COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing and distribution. The
U.S. is uniquely positioned to address the humanitarian and moral issue of low-
and middle- income countries lacking access to effective COVID-19 vaccines,
which leads to spikes in COVID-19 cases and deaths, drives global inequality,
and prolongs the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic will not end anywhere,
including here in the U.S., until it ends everywhere. Without dramatic
scale-up of vaccinations globally, more transmissible and threatening variants
will continue to emerge and impact Americans.
Additionally, increasing the availability of
vaccines globally will help to ensure that all Americans living abroad will
have access to vaccinations. The U.S. State Department does not provide
health care services for Americans abroad. Therefore, U.S. citizens must
either procure vaccines through their host country or travel back to the United
States where vaccines are more available.
Beyond the immediate public health
implications, the U.S. economy could lose as much as $4.5 trillion as a result
of the lack of global economic output if this pandemic continues.
[9]
Furthermore, recent polling indicates that over two-thirds of Americans support
the U.S. investing in global COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing and distribution.
[10]
By taking additional meaningful steps to promote vaccinations around the world,
we will not only help end this pandemic, but we will continue to enhance the
United States’ global leadership.
For these reasons, we urge your
Administration to announce a whole-of-government strategy and a detailed plan
to expand global COVID-19 vaccine access by the end of the upcoming global
COVID-19 summit.
[11] This plan should provide clear answers to the
following questions:
· What is the total
number and delivery status of all COVID-19 doses that have been donated by the
United States and other countries through COVAX or directly to other nations in
need of vaccines, and what is the timeline for when all of these doses will be
delivered?
· How will the United
States and global partners ensure that vaccines are being sent to countries of
highest need, and what are the factors that will be used to inform these
decisions?
· How much additional
funding will the United States and global partners invest to boost
manufacturing infrastructure, source raw materials, and provide technical
assistance to rapidly produce billions more COVID-19 vaccine doses?
Specifically, what investments are needed to ensure we reach the global
vaccination goals of 40% coverage by the end of 2021, and 60% by mid-2022?
[12]· How many regional
COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing hubs and fill-finish facilities will the United
States and global partners commit to developing to fulfill global COVID-19
vaccine needs?
· What steps will the
United States and global partners take, including addressing international
travel restrictions and transferring technical knowledge, to develop and deploy
the skilled workforce needed to quickly manufacture COVID-19 vaccines?
· How many more doses
will the United States and global partners commit to donate to support
vaccinating the entire world?
· How much funding,
technical assistance, and on-the-ground assistance will the United States and
global partners invest into global COVID-19 vaccine delivery and helping other
countries stand up effective COVID-19 immunization programs?
· Will the United States
and global partners commit to providing more transparency, including by working
with vaccine manufacturers, into the global COVID-19 supply chain so the public
has a clearer understanding of the bottlenecks and other factors that may slow
down global COVID-19 vaccine access?
· Will the United States
and global partners fund research to help expand COVID-19 vaccine access,
including by exploring whether fractioning COVID-19 vaccine doses can safely
and effectively increase supply, the impact of extending expiration dates on
vaccine effectiveness, and how to improve heat stability of mRNA vaccines so
they do not need to abide by strict cold chain storage requirements?
· How much funding from
the American Rescue Plan Act and previously enacted COVID-19
relief bills has the United States used to ramp up global COVID-19 vaccine
manufacturing, donations, and delivery, and how much available funding has yet
to be obligated for global COVID-19 vaccine access? How much additional
funding does the United States government need for this purpose?
Thank you again for your leadership in strengthening the
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. By taking additional steps to mobilize
resources and work closely with our global partners, the United States can
solve this complex technical and logistical challenge and lead the world out of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sincerely,
###
