Biden calls on world leaders to join U.S. in sharing coronavirus vaccines

Biden said the U.S. was sharing its doses “with no strings attached” or “pressure for favors.”

“We’re doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic, and that’s it,” he said.

What a refreshing change.

Biden announced the U.S. commitment to vaccine sharing, which comes on top of 80 million doses he has already pledged by the end of the month.

THIS is the America I remember! 

We stormed the beaches in 1944, landed a man on the moon in 1969. 

Thank you President Biden for helping America be a world citizen again.

You're the man, Joe. Thanks for having compassion and realizing we are all in this together.

Who could possibly be against a democracy leading the way in this fight instead of dictatorships? Unless you were from such a country (especially from the one responsible for creating this mess) and you were jealous. Otherwise, it's like cheering for the opposing teams who have their own hidden and more sinister agendas.

Who could possibly be against a democracy leading the way in this fight instead of dictatorships?

Trolls

“We’re doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic, and that’s it,” he said.

Right, of course you are. Not because you want to catch up to China and Russia in the vaccine diplomacy race.

Finally, the U.S. has answered the calls of China and Russia to join in sharing coronavirus vaccines.

Yep, last year Trump didn't want to join the COVAX programme

The US is just in time too - China and Russia are struggling to deliver on their promises for world demand on vaccines. Russia made sales deals (Russia is charging for vaccines) for 630 million, but so far has delivered only 15 million. Promises are one thing - meeting that manufacturing capacity is another.

"Iran Official Blames Chinese, Russian Covid Vaccine Firms For Shortages"

https://iranintl.com/en/iran-in-brief/iran-official-blames-chinese-russian-covid-vaccine-firms-shortages

Alireza Naji, head of the Virology Research Center and member of Covid Scientific Committee told the government Iran Daily that part of the shortage is due to lack of delivery from Chinese and Russian companies that produce Sinopharm and Sputnik vaccines. Naji accused these companies of not honoring their commitments.

in early January Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banned the purchase of American and British vaccines. Iran resorted to importing from China and Russia, but the total quantity delivered so far is around three million.

Naji said that Sinopharm was scheduled to deliver three million additional doses but has failed to do so. He added that Russia’s vaccine production is slow and other countries that have ordered much larger quantities are also waiting.

A potential problem will emerge if additional supplies do not arrive for those who have received the first dose of the Chinese vaccine, which has a maximum six-week window for the second dose.

"Russia Struggles to Meet Demand for Its Covid-19 Vaccine - Moscow’s Sputnik V shot offered hope as coronavirus cases surged in developing world, but shipments have been hit by regulatory, production problems"

https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-struggles-to-meet-demand-for-its-covid-19-vaccine-11620993601

More than 60 countries have approved the Sputnik V shot and Moscow has struck deals to sell more than 630 million doses, according to analytics company Airfinity, which tracks global vaccine distribution.

But Russia is late on some deliveries and analysts tracking the rollout say it lacks global production capacity to fill the orders. So far, it has delivered only about 15 million doses.

Mexican and Argentine authorities have reported delays in shipments of the vaccine’s second dose, which takes longer to produce, leaving them unable to complete the full vaccination cycle in some cases.

“While Russia has been quite successful in selling it, they are now facing significant challenges in following up with doses,” said Andrea Taylor, assistant director of programs at Duke University’s Global Health Innovation Center. “What we need to see is manufacturing that can match the orders and approvals from stringent regulators like the EMA or the WHO.”

Moscow has announced manufacturing deals with factories in China, South Korea and Turkey, among others, though these are yet to start mass production. Only Kazakhstan and Belarus have been churning out Sputnik V abroad, to the tune of 1.8 million and 300,000 doses, respectively, according to Airfinity, leaving Russia with insufficient global manufacturing capacity to meet demand.

It is difficult to produce and differs from other, similar, vaccines, however.

Sputnik V uses a genetically altered form of a common virus, known as adenovirus, as a vehicle for genetic material from the coronavirus. The vaccine’s ingredients are then grown in so-called bioreactors of some 2,000 liters where small changes in variables like temperature, air pressure or pH levels affect the yield.

Unlike other adenovirus-based vaccines like AstraZeneca, Sputnik V uses a different adenovirus for the second shot, which takes longer to grow, public health and vaccine experts said. Getting foreign manufacturers up to speed with the process takes additional time.

“The manufacturing methods for adenovirus vector vaccines are quite specific. This requires a certain level of expertise by manufacturers and basically makes the scaling up of the production more challenging,” said Elena Subbotina, manager at global healthcare consulting firm CBPartners.

Mexican authorities on Monday reported delays of second-dose shipments, leaving Mexico unable to finish the full vaccination cycle for many recipients.

Hugo Lopez-Gatell, Mexico’s assistant health secretary, said Monday that the quantities of first and second doses Russia was making “got out of sync.”

In Argentina, authorities have received more than five million doses of the first component of the vaccine and around one million doses of the second component, leading the government to delay the second shot by up to 90 days.

“It currently looks unlikely that Russia will be able to deliver on their agreements anytime soon,” said Matt Linley, senior analyst at Airfinity.

America leading the way end a world crisis Made in China.

Biden calls on world leaders to join U.S. in sharing coronavirus vaccines

Finally, the U.S. has answered the calls of China and Russia to join in sharing coronavirus vaccines.

This will become an annual or even ongoing thing

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00396-2