[CTC] Biden is expected to call for global vaccine summit

[Arthur Stamoulis]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/08/covid-delta-variant-live-updates/#link-4I2WWWTMOVGZLJKJI3OUOPVULM
Biden is expected to call for global vaccine summit 
By Dan Diamond <https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/dan-diamond/>4:52 p.m.
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President Biden is planning to call for a global summit to respond to the coronavirus crisis and boost vaccine supply to the developing world, said three people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the pending announcement.
The summit would be held during the United Nations General Assembly meetings the week of Sept. 20. Topics would include coordination among leaders worldwide to collectively tackle the health crisis and address inequities, including that the developing world has lagged behind on vaccinations.
Biden is set to give a speech detailing his coronavirus strategy Thursday, although the announcement of the global summit could come before the speech, the people said.
A White House official said that the administration was working to set up talks between Biden and global leaders on coronavirus.
“We are still planning the President’s schedule around U.N. General Assembly High Level week, but it is safe to assume we are actively looking at covid-19 and public-health-centered options,” said a senior administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe in-progress plans. “I would anticipate there will be an opportunity for the president to engage with his counterparts on this issue during UNGA week.”
Global health advocates had pressed <https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1433049980181303302?s=21> the White House to convene a summit, laying out a framework <https://launchandscalefaster.org/sites/default/files/documents/Framework_FINAL_8.24%5B1%5D.pdf> for responding to the crisis and saying that the United States needed to take a central role in rallying the world. More than half of people in the United States are fully vaccinated, compared with only a third of people in South America and about 3 percent of people in Africa, according to the University of Oxford.
While the Biden administration and other wealthy nations have already donated doses, efforts have fallen behind earlier goals. Covax, an initiative backed by the World Health Organization to ensure equitable global access to coronavirus vaccines, on Thursday slashed its projected supply <https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/08/covid-delta-variant-live-updates/#link-TQHHBKW6AFGZLDQNINB262H5IA?itid=lk_inline_manual_37> for 2021 by more than a quarter.
“What we need is an action-forcing event to get countries to commit to some clear goals and the actions we need to achieve them,” said Gary Edson, president of COVID Collaborative, one of the organizations that called for the summit. “In my experience, whether it’s HIV, Ebola or covid, nothing of significance happens without U.S. leadership — [although] other countries need to step up, too.”
Coronavirus variants such as delta have also been first detected abroad in places with relatively little vaccination coverage, prompting a coalition of health experts <https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/10/health-experts-demand-global-vaccines-pandemic/?itid=lk_inline_manual_39> to warn that even more dangerous variants could emerge unless immediate action is taken to immunize the world.


Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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