U.S. to Participate in WHO’s COVAX Initiative Under Biden Presidency

Under the Biden administration, the U.S. will join the World Health Organization (WHO)’s COVAX program and may potentially contribute billions of dollars toward providing access to COVID-19 vaccines in low- and middle-income nations, though it’s not yet known how much money the president will pledge.

Biden, who was sworn in as the 46th president of the U.S. yesterday, intends to bring the U.S. into the COVAX initiative, according to his secretary of state pick, Antony Blinken, who unveiled the president’s plans during his Senate confirmation hearing. Blinken previously served as the Obama administration’s deputy national security adviser from 2013 to 2015 and deputy secretary of state from 2015 to 2017.

It is assumed that the U.S. will assist the initiative through monetary donations, but it is not yet known how much the Biden administration anticipates giving to the project or if additional support will be provided. The administration could not be reached for comment. Congress’ combined appropriations and COVID-19 relief package passed near the holidays already allocates $4 billion to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the co-leader of the COVAX initiative.

“Congress has done a very good service, I think, in providing the funding that’s already on the table in terms of COVAX … but I think that additional resources are likely to be needed,” Blinken said.

In total, the program looks to deliver 2 billion vaccine doses to lower-income nations by year’s end. It has set a goal of delivering its first shipments of vaccines to countries being helped by the program in the first half of the year, followed by further dose shipments that will cover 20 percent of their populations by the end of 2021. Gavi has said that it hopes to receive an additional $5 billion in funding this year to support the project.

The Trump administration had declined to join the program over concerns about China’s influence over WHO, making it just one of two major nations, including Russia, that chose not to lend support.

Trump also pulled the U.S. out of the WHO, a move President Biden said he would begin reversing on his first day in office. In the first step in that process, the administration is sending National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci as an envoy to the organization’s executive board meeting this week.

“Once the U.S. resumes its engagement with the WHO, the Biden-Harris administration will work with the WHO and our partners to strengthen and reform the organization, support the COVID-19 health and humanitarian response, and advance global health and health security,” the Biden transition team said. — James Miessler