The Borgen Project Unites With ONE Campaign to Deliver Global Vaccine Letter to President Biden
Two dozen socially conscious organizations are calling on President Biden to help the less fortunate countries vaccinate their population against COVID-19.
TACOMA, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES, April 1, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today, we join The ONE Campaign3 and 30 other humanitarian organizations in a joint open letter to President Biden, calling for all excess COVID-19 doses to be shared with low-income countries through the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX).We are encouraged by the recent $11.55 billion commitment to global COVID-19 action, which includes the $3.5 billion funding to the Global Fund for the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A). However, significant funding gaps remain to eradicate COVID-19 worldwide. To this end, humanitarian organizations and NGOs are coming together to call for a greater commitment from the U.S. government to eradicate COVID-19 globally.
Currently, one-third of countries worldwide do not have access or the funds to a COVID-19 vaccine, and with new COVIID-19 variants forming, this lack of vaccines will exacerbate people’s health risks and socio-economic situations. Experts have estimated that more than 150 million people will fall into extreme poverty by the end of 2021, undoing the progress achieved in the last two decades to alleviate global poverty.
The U.S. has recently procured additional Johnson and Johnson vaccines and now has sufficient doses to vaccinate all U.S. citizens and more than 553 million doses left over. As all Americans will soon be vaccinated in the upcoming months and the U.S.’s recent commitment to lead the international fight against COVID-19 and other health risks, it is our wish to see the U.S. continue to lead the global COVID-19 response by sharing its vaccines that are already excess in supply.
The joint letter outlines how the doses should be shared multilaterally through the COVAX facility to promote equality among the countries receiving the vaccines.
In April and May, there will be key moments where the Administration can announce its plan to further commit to the global COVID-19 response by sharing excess doses through COVAX. We look forward to seeing the U.S. government show further leadership in the global fight against COVID-19 and its commitment to eradicating the virus worldwide by accepting the shared vaccine agreement with COVAX.
The joint open letter is supported by more than 30 humanitarian organizations, including Save the Children, The ONE Campaign, International Rescue Committee, WaterAid America, The Task Force for Global Health, CARE USA and Global Citizen.
Kim Thelwell
The Borgen Project
+1 253-433-7118
press@borgenproject.org
1 https://cdn.one.org/us/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/25191454/Biden-Letter-8.pdf
2 https://www.borgenmagazine.com/
3 https://www.one.org/us/