[CTC] Frustrated Democrats amp up pressure on Biden over global vaccinations AND The pandemic’s next equity fight

[Arthur Stamoulis]

Two articles below…

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826



https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/593591-frustrated-democrats-amp-up-pressure-on-biden-over-global-vaccinations <https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/593591-frustrated-democrats-amp-up-pressure-on-biden-over-global-vaccinations>

Frustrated Democrats amp up pressure on Biden over global vaccinations
By Peter Sullivan
2/10/22
 
Congressional Democrats are increasing pressure on the Biden administration to step up its efforts to vaccinate the world, arguing more needs to be done to prevent a new COVID-19 variant from emerging to threaten the United States after omicron.   

A group of more than 80 Democratic lawmakers is pushing for <https://malinowski.house.gov/sites/malinowski.house.gov/files/global%20covid%20omicron%20approps%20letter%20final.pdf> $17 billion to support global vaccinations in a coming government funding package, but there is no certainty yet on what will be provided.   

The Biden administration has touted its pledge of 1.2 billion doses for other countries, of which 400 million have been delivered so far, as more than any other country in the world has provided.  

But some Democratic lawmakers say simply donating doses is not enough, given that many poor countries still have extremely low vaccination rates.    

“The truth is we just have to do more,” said Rep. Pramila Jayapal <https://thehill.com/people/pramila-jayapal> (D-Wash.), chairwoman of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, who said she had talked “extensively” with the administration about her push.   

“It’s not enough to say we're doing more than any other country, which may be true, but the reality is just from a purely ‘What benefits us?’ perspective, if we don’t help to stem COVID in these other countries, we're not going to be able to do anything here,” she added.  

Only 9 percent of people in low-income countries have received <https://www.kff.org/interactive/kff-global-covid-19-vaccine-coverage-tool-current-and-projected-coverage/> at least one dose of vaccine, according to a tracker from the Kaiser Family Foundation.   

Experts warn that low vaccination rates abroad provide conditions for new variants to form and eventually threaten the United States. While the spike caused by the omicron variant is now declining, leading to an improving situation in the U.S., a new variant that evades vaccines or causes more severe disease could upend the progress.

While global vaccine supply has increased from the early days, another challenge is the infrastructure to get shots into arms. Democrats say the $17 billion could help fund this process, along with treatments and tests for other countries.

Lawmakers say they are hopeful that more funding will make it into the coming package, which faces a March 11 deadline, but they are frustrated that major vaccine disparities persist after months of pressure.

“I’ve been frustrated for a year,” said Rep. Jake Auchincloss <https://thehill.com/people/jake-auchincloss> (D-Mass.), one of the leaders of the funding push.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi <https://thehill.com/people/subramanian-raja-krishnamoorthi> (D-Ill.) said he doesn't "feel a sense of urgency” from the Biden administration on the issue, though he said he thinks there will be at least “something” in the coming funding bill for global vaccinations.  

“We've got to get going real fast if we're [to have] any chance of preventing the next variant from coming over,” he said.   

Roughly $10 billion in funding for global COVID-19 needs has been under discussion, sources told The Hill, but there’s no clarity yet.    

Rep. Tom Malinowski <https://thehill.com/people/thomas-tom-malinowski> (D-N.J.) said his understanding is that now that there has been progress on the top-line numbers for a government funding deal, the White House will be putting forward a request with a "generous" number for global COVID-19 needs.

In addition to funding, the Progressive Caucus is calling on <https://progressives.house.gov/press-releases?ID=7E1397C9-AB94-420E-90E6-8DACECF6FAAE> the Biden administration to take steps to further boost manufacturing capacity for vaccines, as well as to force vaccine makers to share their know-how with lower-income countries to allow more manufacturing abroad.   

“I think they have made a serious effort and they deserve credit for that, but I think we can do more,” Sen. Bernie Sanders <https://thehill.com/people/bernie-sanders> (I-Vt.) told The Hill when asked about the Biden administration’s efforts on global vaccinations. “The United States is not going to be safe until the whole world is safe.”  

Asked last week if the administration supports the push from congressional Democrats for $17 billion for global vaccinations, White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients <https://thehill.com/people/jeff-zients> did not answer directly.   

“We will be working with Congress as needed to make sure we have the funding to continue to fight this virus,” he said.   

Sen. Roy Blunt <https://thehill.com/people/roy-blunt> (Mo.), the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations health subcommittee, said he is open to more funding for global vaccinations, though it has not been a source of “major discussion” so far.   

“I think we've always thought we eventually needed to include as much help to countries that couldn't help themselves as we could,” he said.   

Asked about her talks with the administration, Jayapal noted that officials want other countries to step up as well but said that should not be an impediment for the U.S. to act with greater urgency.   

“I think they do feel like they want to do as much as they can,” she said. “They don’t want the United States to be the only ones to shoulder the burden, I understand that. But this is both a moral issue [and] from a purely practical perspective, it’s the right thing to do also.” 

“What we've done is just not sufficient to be able to say ‘Alright, we've made a real difference in stemming COVID,’” she said.   


https://www.politico.com/newsletters/global-pulse/2022/02/10/the-pandemics-next-equity-fight-00007390 <https://www.politico.com/newsletters/global-pulse/2022/02/10/the-pandemics-next-equity-fight-00007390>

The pandemic’s next equity fight
By Daniel Payne
2/10/22
 
CHANGING CALCULUS ON COVID THERAPEUTICS — The promise of Covid-19 antiviral drugs is already prompting questions about their fair distribution worldwide, which could affect Washington’s pandemic response abroad.

The antivirals, which are difficult to make and in already short supply, could significantly aid countries hit hardest by the coronavirus. But they’re also seen as a tool to prevent future variants like Omicron and control their spread in at-risk countries.

An issue of fairness: “There will be very significant equity issues,” Steve Morrison, senior vice president at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of the therapeutics at a Johns Hopkins conference.

Though he said vaccines remain the dominant issue, he told Global Pulse the changing pandemic has changed the outlook on aid.

“We’re shifting our mindset away from emergency response, away from trying to exterminate or eliminate this, to something that's more evened out,” he said. “It's not either/or. It’s: We need to defang this and bring it down into a more manageable and more normalized seasonal continuous viral presence — and therapies are part of that.”

Strategy ahead: The broader strategy can be seen in Democrats in Congress who asked the Biden administration for an additional $17 billion in funding for international pandemic response. Two members of the group told Global Pulse they want to see antivirals — among other resources — in the package, even as the White House proposed a smaller, $10 billion investment. <https://www.politico.com/newsletters/global-pulse/2022/02/03/white-house-to-make-major-decision-on-global-covid-funding-00004931>
“The antiviral pill, I think, is an important addition to our arsenal of tools, but we do need to focus on global vaccine equity, and I think if we can get that right, that becomes a model for anything else that we might want to be able to provide to the rest of the world,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) said.

Though she hasn’t yet been in conversations about how much of the drugs to donate abroad, Jayapal said it should be part of the broader U.S. strategy to invest in health infrastructure in low- and middle-income countries.

“In the short term, let's produce and send as many vaccines as possible,” she said. “In the medium term, let's get the TRIPS waiver passed so that we can license technologies and establish distributing centers for whatever it is — whether it’s our current set of pharmaceuticals or antivirals or testing equipment.”

‘Half-measures’: Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), who also signed the letter, said the next round of global funding should support several containment tools, from vaccines to antivirals and PPE to health care infrastructure more generally.

“This is not the time for half-measures or second-guessing; we must fund this crucial work in full and end this pandemic,” he said in a statement to POLITICO.

Pfizer and Merck have agreed to license agreements to make their Covid antivirals more accessible in developing nations as they work to create a sustainable supply. The U.S. expects about 20 million doses of Pfizer’s Paxlovid by the end of the year — but that could just be the beginning of the global supply, depending on other countries’ future production.

“The ability to reduce hospitalizations by about 90 percent and deaths with a pill … it’s really remarkable, but it should be globally available — not just in rich countries,” Eric Topol, professor and executive vice president at Scripps Research Translational Institute, said.


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