White House to unveil new global vaccine initiative aimed at manufacturing 1 billion doses by 2022
Deirdre ShesgreenWASHINGTON – The White House announced a new global vaccine initiative Friday – aimed at expanding manufacturing capacity in India for up to 1 billion new doses for developing countries by 2022.
The U.S. and Japan will help finance the increased manufacturing work at Biological E Ltd., an Indian pharmaceutical company, and work with Australia to strengthen “last-mile” vaccination, according to a White House fact sheet released Friday.
The administration touted the effort ahead of a virtual summit Friday morning between President Joe Biden and the leaders of Japan, India and Australia.
An administration official also said that Biden will host Japan's prime minister at the White House – his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader – as his administration seeks to shore up U.S. alliances in Asia and counter China's global ambitions. No date has been set yet for the meeting with Yoshihide Suga.
On Friday, Biden met virtually with Suga, as well as the prime ministers of India and Australia, to discuss China, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change and other shared concerns. Biden opened the session from the White House's State Dining Room, with the other leaders – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Japan's Suga – appearing on large flat-screen televisions.
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The so-called "Quad" is seen as a strategic alliance to counter Beijing's economic and military expansionism. All four countries have had tense relations with Beijing recently on a range of issues. Friday's session was closed to reporters, except for a few minutes of opening remarks.
"We've got a big agenda ahead of us ... but I'm optimistic about our prospects," Biden said according to a pool report.
In a joint statement released after Friday's meeting, the four leaders vowed to work together on the economic and health impacts of COVID-19, climate change, cybersecurity, counterterrorism and other matters. They also took a veiled swipe at Beijing as it has cracked down on democratic freedoms in Hong Kong and detained at least 1 million Uyghurs in prison and labor camps.
“We strive for a region that is free, open, inclusive, healthy, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion,” the joint statement said.
The vaccine announcement comes as the Biden administration faces growing pressure to dip into America's vaccine supply, with global health experts noting the U.S. has purchased far more than it needs to inoculate the U.S. population. Biden has said the U.S. will share its vaccine supply with other countries once all Americans have been vaccinated.
In the meantime, Beijing has ramped up its vaccine diplomacy, racing to provide Chinese-made vaccines to low-income countries. China has pledged roughly half a billion doses of its vaccines to more than 45 countries, according to a tally by the Associated Press.
Biden and his advisers have cast China as the biggest geopolitical threat to the United States, arguing Beijing is seeking to promote its repressive, authoritarian system on the rest of the world.
"China is the only country with the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to seriously challenge the stable and open international system – all the values and relationships that make the world work the way we want it to," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a recent speech outlining Biden's foreign policy priorities.
Next week, Blinken and Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, will meet with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska, a high-stakes session likely to focus on Beijing's human rights abuses and other contentious issues.
