The United States under President Joe Biden intends to join the COVAX vaccine facility that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries, his chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday. “President Biden will issue a directive later today which will include the intent of the United States to join COVAX and support the ACT-Accelerator to advance multilateral efforts for COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic distribution, equitable access, and research and development.” Fauci said.
“WHO is a family of nations and we are all glad that the U.S. is staying in the family,” WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The first batches of coronavirus vaccines are expected to go to poorer countries in February under the COVAX scheme run by the WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance, WHO officials said this week, while raising concerns that richer countries are still grabbing the lion’s share of available shots.
More Stories
Life-threatening’ winter storm
Increase of Covid-19 vaccine supply
Negative COVID-19 test is mandatory to fly