President Joe Biden’s administration is gearing up for a campaign to distribute COVID-19 vaccines around the world, a diplomatic campaign touted as a necessity for a full rebound from the coronavirus pandemic.
“This pandemic won’t end at home until it ends worldwide,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday. “Even if we vaccinate all 332 million people in the United States tomorrow, we would still not be fully safe from the virus — not while it’s still replicating around the world, and turning into new variants that could easily come here and spread across our communities again. And, not if we want to fully reopen our economy, or start traveling again.”
Biden has prioritized the delivery of vaccines to the public in the early months of his presidency, avoiding the political pitfalls endured in the European Union last month when officials acknowledged they had exported more vaccines than had been distributed within the bloc. Blinken sought to create domestic political space for such an outward focus, which could also pay dividends in the geopolitical competition with China.
“As we get more confident in our vaccine supply here at home, we are exploring options to share more with other countries going forward,” Blinken said. “I know that many countries are asking for the U.S. to do more — some with growing desperation, because of the scope and scale of their COVID emergencies. We hear you. And, I promise we’re moving as fast as possible.”
US EAGER TO BEAT CHINA AT VACCINE DIPLOMACY GAME
Biden made vaccine production the centerpiece of his meeting with that leaders of Japan, Australia, and India last month. This unprecedented encounter elevated the profile of the Quad, as the bloc is known, and positioned the U.S. government as a benefactor to the Indo-Pacific at a time when Biden’s administration was careful not to take any action that could be construed as sending abroad vaccines needed at home.
Blinken amplified that message while identifying a new State Department coordinator for global COVID-19 response and health security. He tapped ONE Campaign President Gayle Smith, whose organization “pressures governments to do more to fight extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa,” a continent with a growing population and increasing strategic significance to China and the U.S.
“Extraordinary times demand extraordinary leaders, and Gayle-Force Smith is just that,” U2 lead singer Bono, a co-founder of ONE, said in a statement released Monday afternoon. “I can’t think of a better person to drive the U.S. effort to chase this virus off the face of the planet.”
Biden’s administration hopes that 200 million members of the public will have received the vaccine by the end of his first 100 days in office. “All the while, we’ve been producing vaccines at a rapid clip,” he said. “By the end of May, we’ll have enough vaccine supply for all adults in America.”
Blinken, in an apparent effort to preempt any charges of cynicism by the administration, implicitly criticized Beijing’s approach to diplomacy during the pandemic.
“We won’t trade shots in arms for political favors,” he said. “We’ll treat our partner countries with respect. We won’t overpromise and underdeliver. We’ll maintain high standards for the vaccines that we help to bring to others — only distributing those proven to be safe and effective.”
The pivot to distribute vaccines around the world could allow the U.S. to blunt Chinese efforts to use the vaccine as the sharp point of a wedge to drive between Washington and allies in places such as the Philippines and Hungary.
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“We want to rise to the occasion for the world,” Blinken said. “By helping bring to a close one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, we can show the world, once again, what American leadership and American ingenuity can do. Let’s make that the story of the end of COVID-19.”
