Addressing world leaders at the global COVID summit, President Joe Biden drew attention to the loss of life approaching 1 million in the USA, and called to renew international commitments in the fight against the disease. Biden, who ordered the flags to be lowered at half-mast, warned the world not to fall into complacency.
At the second epidemic summit held virtually, Biden said, “This pandemic is not over. We are at a tragic turning point in the United States today. “1 million people died from COVID, 1 million seats are empty at families’ dinner tables,” he said.
Biden later said that “millions of people around the world have died” as a result of the pandemic. The World Health Organization announced today that COVID-19 deaths have exceeded 2 million for countries in the European region alone.
Biden also issued a directive for the US flags to be lowered at half-mast by sundown on Monday to honor those who lost their lives due to the virus. The President also urged Congress to provide more funding for testing, vaccines and treatments.
Biden is requesting an additional $22.5 billion and says this funding is critically needed. But members of Congress have been reluctant to raise the funds. The lack of funds is putting the global response to the pandemic in jeopardy, as well as faltering domestic resolve to respond to the epidemic.
At its first summit last September, the United States announced an ambitious commitment to donate 1.2 billion doses of vaccines to the world. But eight months later, the urgency of combat by the United States and other nations has waned.
The momentum in vaccines and treatments has slowed, as more infectious variants are on the rise and billions of people worldwide are still vulnerable.
Biden addressed the opening of the virtual summit this morning with pre-recorded remarks, arguing that the fight against COVID-19 “must remain an international priority”.
“This summit is an opportunity to renew our efforts to keep our feet on the gas when it comes to containing this epidemic and preventing future health crises,” Biden said. The USA is hosting the summit along with Germany, Indonesia, Senegal and Belize.
According to the State Department, the United States has sent approximately 540 million doses of the vaccine to more than 110 countries and territories. This amount is much higher than other donor countries.
After more than 1 billion vaccines have been delivered to developing countries, the problem is no longer a lack of sufficient vaccines, but a lack of logistical support to deliver doses to populations. According to US government data, more than 680 million donated doses are left unused in developing countries because their expiration date is soon to expire and they are not administered quickly enough. As of March, 32 poor countries had used less than half of the COVID-19 vaccines sent to them.
On the other hand, the White House also published a memo, announcing that the second global COVID-19 summit has raised more than $3 billion in new funds to combat the pandemic.
According to the memo, the fund envisions at least $2 billion for immediate response to the pandemic and $962 million for global health security in pandemic preparedness to be transferred to a World Bank fund.