The exclusion of funding to vaccinate people in other countries in Senate negotiators' agreement on a $10 billion COVID-19 response package could imperil the Biden administration's goal to donate 1.2 billion vaccines around the world, health experts warn.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
Democratic and Republican Senators agreed to a proposal on Monday that didn't include $5 billion to help other countries fight COVID-19, and it was smaller than President Joe Biden's initial $22.5 billion proposal. It's not clear if the bill would have enough support to pass a 50-50 Senate, nor if the Democrat-controlled House will approve of it without international aid.
Krishna Udayakumar, a member of the COVID Global Accountability Platform and founding Director of Duke University Global Health Innovation Center, told KCBS Radio's Jeff Bell and Patti Reising on Monday night that a U.S.-led summit on addressing the pandemic later this month might not be able to apply much, if any, pressure for the world to keep responding to COVID-19.
"It's going to be really hard for him to do that if the U.S. can't even step up itself," Udayakumar said of Biden.
Just 64.5% of the world has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to Our World In Data, well short of the Biden administration’s goals to fully vaccinate 70% of the world by this fall. Only 14.5% of residents in low-income countries have received a dose.
The World Health Organization in February called on wealthier countries to donate $16 billion to provide COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests to low- and middle-income countries. So far, they’ve raised fewer than $2 billion, according to Udayakumar.
"We've also now donated more than 500 million doses, which is great, with setting a goal at 1.2 billion doses over the coming months," he said of the U.S., calling the country the "global leader for the pandemic response" so far.
"The challenge is now we don't have the money to make sure those vaccines actually turn into vaccinations," he added.
Experts have warned that variants can emerge among largely unvaccinated groups, and intense vaccination disparities remain between the world’s richest and poorest countries.
Democrats and Republicans negotiating reached an impasse over GOP demands to fund global vaccination efforts using unspent domestic aid, all while COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the U.S. have plummeted. Udayakumar said he worries the American public and lawmakers are weary of the pandemic, even as it continues to pose problems around the world.
"I think there's a growing recognition of where we are," he said. "Unfortunately, what we're seeing is complacency and fatigue with the pandemic. We all want it to be over, but it's not just because we want it to be."
