{"id":834,"date":"2021-04-27T10:05:57","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T10:05:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biden-power-map.test\/?post_type=topic&p=834"},"modified":"2021-08-23T21:32:18","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T21:32:18","slug":"pandemic-response","status":"publish","type":"topic","link":"https:\/\/biden-agenda.foreignpolicy.com\/topic\/pandemic-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Pandemic Response"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic over a year ago by the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been over 210 million cases recorded and approximately 4.41 million deaths across the globe as of August 20, 2021. The former administration\u2019s limited financial response and inaccurate rhetoric with respect to COVID-19, such as claiming that coronavirus outbreak was a \u201cfake news media conspiracy<\/a>,\u201d exacerbated the outbreak domestically, resulting in the U.S. ranking as one of the lowest-scoring countries<\/a> in FP Analytics\u2019 COVID-19 Global Response Index. As of August 20, 2021, over 37 million cases have been recorded within the U.S., and over 625,000 individuals have died<\/a>. To tackle the worsening health crisis, on his first day in office, President Biden signed several executive orders and directives to bolster testing, vaccinations, supplies, and treatments, and by his seventh week, he signed into law a $1.9 trillion stimulus package<\/a>, known as the American Rescue Plan, to address the ongoing social and economic crisis induced by the pandemic. In April 2021, he announced plans to invest $1.7 billion<\/a> from the American Rescue Plan to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fight COVID-19 variants, and in June 2021, the administration said it would allocate $3.7 billion<\/a> for the development of antiviral drugs to treat COVID-19. All told, the U.S. government has allocated approximately $13 trillion for COVID-19 relief<\/a>, which some economists, such as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell<\/a><\/strong>, warn may risk overheating the economy<\/a> and fueling inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s plan to beat COVID-19 promises to rely on science and to promote trust, transparency, and accountability in the federal government\u2019s response. Through Executive Orders 13987 and 13995, he established a national COVID-19 response structure to coordinate across government agencies, focusing particularly on the effective delivery of vaccines, and created the COVID-19 Racial and Ethnic Disparities Task Force to support vaccination and response efforts across minority groups and geographically isolated communities. To measure success, the administration has outlined various key domestic benchmarks. These included 200 million<\/a> vaccinations (double Biden\u2019s initial goal) within the administration\u2019s first 100 days, re-opening the majority<\/a> of K\u20138 schools safely in the first 100 days, achieving an unemployment rate of 4 percent<\/a> by 2022. The administration failed to meet its deadline of inoculating 70 percent of adults by July 4, 2021. As of August 23, 2021, 362 million doses have been administered<\/a>, 70 percent of U.S. adults are vaccinated<\/a> with at least one dose, and the unemployment rate<\/a> is at 5.4 percent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The U.S. Is Improving its Vaccine Roll-Out and Is One of A Handful of Countries<\/a> Leading Vaccine Administration in the World <\/h6>\n\n\n\n

As of August 23, 2021, 170 million people in the U.S. (or 51.5 percent of the total U.S. population) have been fully vaccinated. However, inequities in the global vaccine rollout have disproportionately affected low- and low-middle income countries, resulting in 24.5 percent of the global population being fully vaccinated. Only 1.4 percent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COVID-19 Vaccine Doses Administered in the United States and Globally, <\/strong>
Per 100 People <\/strong>
(Dec. 2020-August 2021<\/strong>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Note: The data may not equal the total number of people vaccinated, depending on the specific dose regime (e.g., some people receive multiple doses).<\/em>
Source: Our World in Data<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The administration is notably providing full national-level support to address the pandemic, a stark contrast<\/a> to President Trump\u2019s approach, where he characterized the federal government as a \u201cback-up for state governments\u201d and \u201ca supplier of last resort<\/a>.\u201d Experts note that the CDC and the WHO require particular attention to address the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> and prepare for future health crises following the previous administration\u2019s massive budget cuts<\/a> to scientific and medical research and disease-prevention programs and Trump\u2019s announcement to withdraw from the WHO<\/a>. Despite problems the former administration faced regarding Operation Warp Speed<\/a>, Trump\u2019s flagship initiative notably set the U.S. on track to develop vaccines. However, issues with distribution hindered the effectiveness of the administration\u2019s vaccine rollouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The emergence of the Delta variant around the world also is impacting the U.S.\u2019s domestic inoculation efforts. Due to reductions in overall COVID-19 testing, mixed messaging on masking requirements, and misinformation concerning the virus\u2019s new strains, according to the CDC, cases are rising in nearly 90 percent of jurisdictions in the U.S., with outbreaks in areas with low vaccination rates. In July 2021, due to the increasing number of cases involving the Delta variant, the CDC reversed many of its decisions lifting masking and social distancing requirements, directing fully vaccinated people in parts of the country to resume wearing masks indoors. Indeed, unvaccinated people remain the greatest concern to the administration, with President Biden calling this new wave \u201ca pandemic of the unvaccinated<\/a>\u201d given that those who are unvaccinated are likely to become<\/a> the sickest and transmit the variant to those who are already vaccinated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of foreign policy, core pillars of President Biden\u2019s National Strategy<\/a> for the COVID-19 Response are restoring U.S. leadership globally and enhancing preparedness for future threats, in particular, supporting the international public health and humanitarian response, building better bio-preparedness by reinstating the U.S. Agency for International Development\u2019s (USAID) pathogen-tracking program known as PREDICT<\/a>, and revitalizing U.S. engagement in the WHO. The strategy also includes expanding resilience initiatives against biological threats by bolstering medical and pharmaceutical supply chains and supporting industry research and development. Although the Trump administration notably ceased U.S. support<\/a> for any efforts involving the WHO, in February 2020, USAID pledged $1.16 billion<\/a> to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, from 2020 to 2023, with President Trump urging cooperation with countries<\/a> to tackle the pandemic. The Biden administration, however, faces substantial challenges to achieving its COVID-19 goals, needing to balance not only domestic and global health concerns, but also the U.S. relationship with China, which the administration has identified as both a potential partner<\/a> in tackling the pandemic and a competitor in the \u201cGreat Vaccine Race<\/a>.\u201d Indeed, Trump\u2019s attacks on China<\/a> and the WHO contributed to the deterioration of U.S.-China relations, with the former administration\u2019s handling of the pandemic also negatively affecting the U.S.\u2019s international reputation<\/a> writ large, particularly among key U.S. allies. The Biden administration has similarly adopted a confrontational tone toward Beijing, denouncing China\u2019s human rights records and rallying U.S. allies and partners to confront China\u2019s rise in the international system, despite President Biden\u2019s calls for U.S.-China cooperation<\/a> on current and future global public health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support the COVID-19 response, Biden has created several global health-specific positions to handle the U.S. strategy, such as the White House Coordinator of COVID Response, to which he appointed former Director of the National Economic Council Jeffrey Zients<\/a><\/strong>. He also re-established the Obama-era National Security Council (NSC) White House Directorate on Global Health Security and Biodefense and appointed Elizabeth<\/strong> Cameron<\/strong> <\/a>as senior director. In conjunction with key government leaders, including Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra<\/a><\/strong>, Chief Medical Adviser Anthony Fauci<\/a><\/strong>, and CDC Director Rochelle Walensky<\/a><\/strong>, the group of medical, economic, and policy experts are tasked with increasing public trust in vaccines and ensuring the safe, timely, and equitable production and delivery of vaccines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Biden\u2019s COVID-19 team has shifted from prioritizing the treatment of American citizens, and in some cases restricting vaccine exports<\/a> from U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer and Moderna, to ramping up international COVID-19 diplomacy and global vaccination efforts. USAID Administrator Samantha Power<\/a><\/strong> has vaccine diplomacy as a broader opportunity to regain U.S. standing<\/a> in the international arena, particularly vis-\u00e0-vis China. In contrast to the Trump administration\u2019s limited participation<\/a> in the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) initiative, which supports the global distribution of vaccines and aims to provide<\/a> two billion doses by the end of the year, the Biden team is working with friends, partners, and allies to enhance funding, manufacturing, and distribution capacities. In February 2021, following warnings that COVAX efforts were at high risk of failure<\/a> due to lack of funds, Biden called on G7 partners to prioritize the development of a sustainable health security financing mechanism in order to mobilize countries to build the necessary capacity to end the current pandemic and prevent future ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a first step, the administration pledged $4 billion to the COVAX program, providing an immediate $2 billion donation, and promising the remaining $2 billion over the next two years as other nations make and fulfill their own pledges. To further bolster COVAX\u2019s inoculation efforts, which currently lags<\/a> at 163 million doses delivered as of August 2021, the administration has committed<\/a> 500 million doses to the initiative. The first 19 million doses went to countries in South and Central America, Asia, and Africa as cases rose in these continents, with Africa having the slowest vaccination<\/a> rate of any continent. These efforts come following the Biden administration\u2019s decision to distribute<\/a> 25 million vaccines to sub-Saharan Africa in July 2021, which was experiencing a surge of the virus. Back in March, Australia, India, Japan, and the U.S. (united as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or \u201cQuad\u201d) also jointly committed to provide one billion doses<\/a> of vaccines in Southeast Asia. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai has also expressed the U.S.\u2019s support<\/a> for an intellectual property waiver over protections for the COVID-19 vaccines. Despite heavy pushback from the pharmaceutical industry, which argues that the waiver will do little to expand vaccine access and instead will stifle innovation<\/a>, the administration views the idea of a waiver as a critical part of its effort to expand vaccine production worldwide and stop the spread of COVID-19 variants. In total, as of August 2021, the U.S. has sent<\/a> over 111 million vaccines to 65 nations around the world, with plans to reach 100 countries<\/a> within a year. According to the White House<\/a>, as of August 2021, the largest recipients of vaccines have been Indonesia, with 8 million doses, followed by the Philippines with 6.2 million doses and South Africa with 6 million doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, with the rise of the Delta variant, countries\u2019 vaccine efforts have been hindered. For instance, China has resumed lockdowns<\/a> in cities throughout the country, and European countries such as Greece and Spain have reinstated curfews and social distancing rules while France requires<\/a> proof of vaccination of a negative COVID test to access public areas and transportation. In addition to the Alpha and Beta variants, Delta is fueling an aggressive third wave in Africa\u2014where only 24.2 percent<\/a> of the population has been vaccinated\u2014with death rates rising<\/a> by 15 percent across 38 African countries. Due to the increased risks of the variants, countries have called for booster shots of the vaccine, with Israel becoming the first to conduct a mass vaccine campaign of a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for individuals over age 60. Biden\u2019s COVID-19 team has similarly endorsed a third shot of the two-dose Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines for all adults, to begin the week of September 20, 2021. The massive third-dose effort will move forward following appropriate FDA approval<\/a>. However, the WHO has expressed concerns regarding wealthier countries\u2019 efforts to provide third vaccine doses, arguing that equitable distribution of vaccines, particularly to developing nations, should be prioritized. Specifically, the WHO has called for every nation to reach a 10 percent vaccinated threshold before a third-dose campaign is launched. In August 2021, however, the Biden administration rejected<\/a> the WHO\u2019s proposal, stating that the distribution of third doses could run alongside the administration\u2019s continued support of international vaccination efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBiden\u2019s COVID-19 Executive Orders\t\t\t\t\t<\/h5>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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