The United States reached a milestone this Friday by exceeding the 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered, more than any other country in the world in absolute terms, while rejecting requests from other governments to share them.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as of this Friday the United States has administered a total of 101,128,005 doses.
This means that 35,000,159 Americans are fully vaccinated, or 10.5% of the population. Additionally, a total of 65,965,305 Americans have received at least one dose of some of the approved COVID-19 sera.
Currently in the country, which began the immunization campaign on December 14, there are three vaccines authorized for emergency use: those of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, of which the first two require two doses separated by several weeks, while the third is a single dose.
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July 4, “virus independence”
Biden yesterday ordered the states of the country to guarantee that all adults can make an appointment to be vaccinated when May arrives, with the aim that the US begins to mark its “virus independence” for the July 4th holiday.
This Friday’s milestone does not imply that the president’s promise that in his first 100 days in power, 100 million doses of the vaccine will be administered.
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Since Biden arrived at the White House on January 20, more than 81.6 million doses have been supplied, according to a counter prepared by the NBC News network.
Despite the acceleration of the vaccination campaign, the US government said today that it is rejecting requests from other countries to share vaccines against COVID-19.
“There are still 1,400 people dying in this country every day, and we need to focus on addressing that. Right now, there have been requests from all over the world, of course from various countries that have requested doses from the US and we have not provided them to anyone. This is not about Europe, it is about our focus and our priority, ”said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki at her daily press conference.
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USA does not want to share vaccines
Psaki was asked why the US is keeping tens of millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in storage, when it has not yet been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US regulator in charge. to give the green light to the serums against COVID-19, although it has been for other countries.
The situation has caused concern in places where they are having difficulty getting enough vaccines for their population, especially in the European Union (EU).
In this regard, the spokeswoman indicated that the US wants to ensure that it has “maximum flexibility” when it comes to distributing vaccines.
“We want to ensure that we have maximum flexibility, that we are oversupplied and prepared, and that we have the ability to provide vaccines – whatever are the most effective – to the American public,” he said.
Still, he noted that while US companies such as Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson are contractually bound to deliver their doses to the US government, they are free to have agreements with other countries.
Responding to another question about whether Biden feels a moral obligation to deliver vaccines elsewhere, the spokeswoman said he is focused on getting the US out of the health crisis.
“He wants to have, as the leader of this country, maximum flexibility,” said Psaki, adding that at the same time Washington wants to be “collaborator and cooperator” with the international community.
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Biden wants to sell his achievements
In parallel to the acceleration of the vaccination campaign in the US, Biden has embarked on a “marketing” exercise of his management of the pandemic, and this Friday he participated in an event in the rose garden of the presidential mansion to celebrate the approval this week of the stimulus plan to alleviate the effects of the health crisis on the economy.
Flanked by the vice president, Kamala Harris, and the Democratic leaders of Congress, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the president wanted to send the message to Americans that aid is here.
“When (First Lady) Jill and I moved into this magnificent building behind you, I promised the American people – I suppose this is an overused phrase by now – that help was on the way, but today, with the Plan of American Rescue (as the stimulus package is known), which I signed into law, I have complied with it, ”Biden recalled.
“For the first time in a long time,” he continued, “this law puts the workers of this nation first. It is not hyperbole, it is a fact ”.
Despite his efforts to instill hope and optimism in citizens, the president warned that the pandemic is not over yet: “We have not finished it, conditions may change, scientists have warned of new mutations of the virus,” he remarked.
The US is the nation in the world most impacted by COVID-19, with more than 29 million infections and more than 531,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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