Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) and Congressman Ted Lieu (D-CA) are urging the Biden administration to ensure that we have a strong vaccine supply distribution network established with our partners and allies.
The members also called on the Administration to communicate to the global community that the U.S. is prepared to provide vaccine supplies, including unused AstraZeneca vaccines.
“We urge you to ensure that a robust network for vaccine distribution exists among our allies and partners around the world,” the members wrote. “While more than 30% of the United States population has been fully vaccinated, roughly 90% of the world’s population has not.”
“The United States can and must do a better job ensuring that our allies and partners know the United States is willing to help,” the members added. “We urge you to work with the necessary agencies and international organizations to ensure that we have a network capable of supporting that commitment, and that this network prioritizes distribution to areas of greatest need. We stand ready to support this effort in Congress and ask that you update us on your progress in developing this network and finalizing distribution plans.”
The members noted that many countries have vaccine rates below 10% as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in countries like India. For example:
- While Australia has done an excellent job of keeping infection rates low, it is far behind in vaccination rates, with only about 5.4% of the population vaccinated to date.
- In Latvia and Croatia, full vaccination rates are less than 10%.
- South Korea’s vaccination rate remains alarmingly low, at 1.3%.
Full text of the letter is available here.
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