US to donate 500m extra vaccine shots – as Biden tells rich nations to share ‘with no strings attached’
The US is buying a further 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to donate to other countries, bringing its total commitment to over a billion jabs, President Joe Biden has announced.
“To beat the pandemic here, we need to beat it everywhere,” Mr Biden said. “For every one shot we’ve administered to date in America, we have now committed to do three shots to the rest of the world.”
The purchase of a further 500 million shots from Pfizer brings the total US vaccination commitment to more than 1.1 billion doses through 2022.
President Biden and US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield participate in the virtual coronavirus summit
Speaking during a four-hour virtual summit at the White House, held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, Mr Biden urged other world leaders to do more to combat the pandemic globally.
“We need other high income countries to deliver on their own ambitious vaccine donations and pledges,” he said.
He backed up his words with plans to donate $370m to help administer vaccines globally, and another $380m will be used to assist the Global Vaccine Alliance to further distribute jabs to regions with the greatest need.
He called on wealthy countries to commit to donating, rather than selling the shots to poorer nations, and to provide them “with no political strings attached”.
To this end, he also announced the launch of an EU-US COVID vaccine partnership to allow closer collaboration.
The US and EU are calling for wealthy nations to double their donation commitments or make “meaningful contributions to vaccine readiness”, according to a joint statement.
Analysis: Should countries send vaccines abroad instead of giving boosters?
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US donates another $500m worth of vaccines
The EU Commission followed Mr Biden’s lead and announced that the bloc would donate 500 million doses “in addition to the doses we have financed through COVAX” – the UN-backed program to share doses internationally.
The event was attended by leaders from Canada, Indonesia, South Africa and Britain, among others, as well as World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who called the pandemic an “all hands on deck crisis”.
The US has already shipped 160 million doses to more than 100 other nations – more donations than the rest of the world combined.
However, global health experts say the commitment is far short of the five to six billion doses needed to reach a goal of vaccinating 70% of the world’s population by next September.
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PM shakes hands with minister who now has COVID
More than 5.9 billion COVID-19 doses have been administered globally over the past year, representing about 43% of the global population.
But there are vast disparities in distribution, with many lower-income nations struggling to vaccinate even the most vulnerable share of their populations, and some yet to exceed 2% to 3% vaccination rates.
The WHO said only 15% of promised donations of vaccines have been delivered and wants countries to fulfil their dose-sharing pledges “immediately”, making jabs available for programs that benefit poor countries and Africa in particular.
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The delivery of jabs has been hampered by issues with COVAX, including production issues, supply shortages, and wealthy nations stockpiling vaccines.
The agency has failed to reach nearly all of its vaccine-sharing targets. An original target to ship some two billion vaccine doses worldwide by the end of the year has been lowered to 1.4 billion.
This could still be missed. As of Tuesday, COVAX had shipped more than 296 million doses to 141 countries.
Since the pandemic began in early 2020, at least 4,913,000 people have died from coronavirus.
Rudy Giuliani has been hospitalised following a car crash in New Hampshire, a spokesperson for the former New York City mayor said.
Mr Giuliani suffered “a fractured thoracic vertebrae, multiple lacerations and contusions, as well as injuries to his left arm and lower leg” when his vehicle was struck from behind while driving on a highway near Manchester on Saturday evening, according to Michael Ragusa, Mr Giuliani’s head of security.
“He sustained injuries but is in good spirits and recovering tremendously,” Mr Ragusa said in a statement on X, adding: “This was not a targeted attack.”
Mr Giuliani was in a rental car and “no one knew it was him”, according to Mr Ragusa.
His head of security said the 81-year-old had been “flagged down by a woman who was the victim of a domestic violence incident” and contacted police on her behalf. The crash shortly after was “random and unrelated” to the domestic violence incident, Mr Ragusa said.
Rudy Giuliani attended Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony in January. Pic: Julia Demaree Nikhinson/Pool via Reuters
Mr Giuliani, who worked as an attorney for Donald Trump in his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, is expected to be released from hospital in a few days.
His son, Andrew Giuliani, thanked people for reaching out after hearing about his father’s accident, writing on X: “Your prayers mean the world.”
“As a son, I can tell you that I’m honored to have a Dad that I can call the toughest SOB I’ve ever seen,” he added.
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US
US blocks Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials from United Nations’ annual meeting in New York
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and 80 other officials have been blocked from attending September’s annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio has revoked the US visas of delegates from the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and denied others from applying for one.
It is the latest step by Donald Trump’s administration to target Palestinians with visa restrictions, and follows the suspension of a programme to allow injured children from Gaza to receive treatment in the US.
Mahmoud Abbas addressed the general assembly in 2024, but is barred from next month’s meeting. Pic: Reuters
“It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” a statement from the US State Department said.
It added that, to be considered partners for peace, both groups “must consistently repudiate terrorism, and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by US law and as promised by the PLO”.
Offensive will cause ‘intolerable deaths’
Several US allies, including France, Malta, and Australia have announced plans to recognise Palestine as a state at September’s United Nations General Assembly. Canada and the UK will too, unless Israel meets certain conditions.
Israel declared Gaza’s largest city a dangerous combat zone on Friday.
The army launched a planned offensive that has drawn international condemnation.
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Thick smoke rises from Gaza City after Israeli strikes
Foreign ministers from Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Slovenia and Spain released a joint statement saying the military operations in Gaza City will cause “intolerable deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians”.
Gaza latest: Israel’s Gaza City offensive condemned
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering in Gaza City while enduring famine.
An Israeli armoured vehicle in northern Gaza on Friday. Pic: AP
Palestinians ride a truck carrying humanitarian aid in Gaza City. Pic: AP
The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Riyad Mansour, said Mr Abbas had planned to lead the delegation to the UN meetings and was expected to address the general assembly at the general debate, which begins on 23 September.
He was also expected to attend a high-level meeting co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on 22 September about a two-state solution, a broad idea involving Israel coexisting with an independent Palestinian state.
The State of Palestine is an observer member of the UN, meaning it can speak at meetings but not vote on resolutions.
The State of Palestine cannot vote on UN resolutions. Pic: AP
US decision ‘contravenes international law’
The Palestinian Authority “expressed its deep regret and astonishment” at the visa decision, calling it “a violation of US commitments” as the host of the UN, and claiming it “contravenes international law”.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the world body would be seeking clarification in the “hope that this will be resolved”.
Hundreds of diplomats left when Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu began speaking at the general assembly in 2024. Pic: Reuters
The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority’s mission to the UN, comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.
Under a 1947 UN agreement, the US is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the UN in New York.
But Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.
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The death toll in Gaza has now risen to 63,025, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.
It also reported five more malnutrition-related deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number during the war to 322, with 121 of them children.
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