Aren’t you sharing the wealth, Joe? Biden has stocked doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Europe and the developing world need because he wants the FDA to approve it.
- President Joe Biden is holding doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 unapproved vaccine because he wants ‘maximum flexibility’ to use it
- “I think his vision is that his obligation, his first obligation, is to face what is still a crisis in our country,” explained Psaki.
- Psaki was pressured to find out if there was a “moral dilemma” for the United States to be taking doses of a vaccine that currently cannot be used in Americans.
- The doses in question were produced in the United States and are awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration for use
President Joe Biden is holding doses of the unapproved AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine because he wants ‘maximum flexibility’ to use it, said press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday.
“I think his vision is that his obligation, the first obligation is to face what is still a crisis in our country,” explained Psaki during the daily press conference. ‘And he wants to have, as the leader of this country, the maximum flexibility.’
Psaki was pressured to find out if there was a “moral dilemma” for the United States in taking doses of a vaccine that currently cannot be used in Americans, but could save lives in Europe and around the world.
President Joe Biden (left) wants to have ‘maximum flexibility’ in COVID-19 vaccines, which is why the United States is awaiting unapproved doses of AstraZeneca’s product, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at Friday
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved in Europe and elsewhere, but not in the United States. Still, doses of vaccines produced in the United States are not leaving the country because the White House is addressing ‘what is still a crisis in our country first’
She conceded that it was a ‘tricky balance’, pointing out that, on average, 1,400 Americans still die from the virus daily, while Biden also aspires to be a ‘key member of the global community’.
Government officials also said the United States was sitting on doses of AstraZeneca so they could implement it quickly if authorized by the Food and Drug Administration.
AstraZeneca has produced doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in the United States, where it has not yet been approved.
The vaccine developed with Oxford University has been authorized for use in the European Union and in many countries.
Reuters reported this week that American officials told the EU not to expect US gunfire shipments anytime soon.
“We have a small stock of AstraZeneca, so if approved, we can send that stock to the American people,” said the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, in a press call on Friday.
The New York Times reported this week that tens of millions of doses have already been produced in the United States and are stopped at unused production facilities.
Psaki said during the briefing that he was “not sure” that the U.S. government would have a number to provide as to how many doses are currently in stock.
AstraZeneca said in February that it expects its vaccine to receive US emergency use authorization in early April and to be able to immediately deliver 30 million doses to locations in the United States.
The US stance could undermine AstraZeneca’s attempts to move closer to fulfilling its contractual obligation of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter.
AstraZeneca told the EU earlier this year that it would cut its supplies in the second quarter by at least half, to less than 90 million doses, EU sources told Reuters, after a further reduction in the first three months of the year.
Biden said on Wednesday that the government will first give Americans the COVID-19 vaccines, but any surplus will be shared with the world.
The United States has been one of the world leaders in vaccine administration.
He has delivered more than 130 million injections and administered nearly 100 million, according to federal data last updated on Thursday.
White House officials said on Friday that 65% of Americans over 65 received injections.