Bloomberg News’ “Biden Uses Trump’s ‘America First’ Vaccine Plan To Corner the Market” is only the latest media account to blame former President Donald Trump for present President Biden’s stupidly selfish denial of COVID-19 vaccines to the world. For two months, Biden’s administration has banned the export of vaccines, and has gone further by buying up 200 million extra doses that the U.S. will never use. However, with the announcement two weeks ago of enough vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson for all Americans by May, the reality of tens of millions of unused AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine doses—not yet authorized for use in the U.S.—has put an extra edge on the selfish unreality in the face of a pandemic.
The U.S. has received multiple requests for its stockpile of 50 million-plus AZ doses. (Thirty million doses are stockpiled in a plant in Ohio, and at least 20 million more — or what is called “tens of millions” more — in a Baltimore plant.) Last week’s decision to “loan” 2.5 million doses of the AZ vaccine to Mexico, and 1.5 million to Canada was considered a “breakthrough,” because the previous White House position had been that there would be no exports until every American who wanted a vaccine had received one.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledges that other countries around the world are clamoring for the doses gathering dust in U.S. warehouses, but adopts a local approach: “ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission-critical step ... to ending the pandemic.” Apparently she doesn’t know that the “pandemic” exists in the entire world, beyond countries with which the U.S. shares borders.
Canada is behind even Europe in its rollout, with only about 8% of the population getting at least one shot — and they are delaying the second shot up to four months. Psaki’s claim that there are only 7 million “releasable” AZ doses (out of a verified total of at least 30 million), ignores at least 23 million doses the White House does not admit exists while maintaining a stockpile of 3 million doses that are “releasable” but aren’t being released.
So, if Biden’s “America First” approach is looking pretty measly and ugly, the media’s explanation is to attribute it to Trump’s December Executive Order.
Actually, Trump’s EO 13962 on Dec. 8, 2020, in the week before the vaccine rollout began, mainly pushes for international access to the vaccines: “After ensuring the ability to meet the vaccination needs of the American people, it is in the interest of the United States to facilitate international access to United States government COVID-19 Vaccines.” It continues: “After determining that there exists a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses,” Health and Human Services and the Secretary of State, coordinating with others, “shall facilitate international access … for allies, partners, and others.…” Further, this is to be done within 30 days. The National Security Adviser “shall coordinate development of an interagency strategy” for international access. Bloomberg today blames Trump for Biden’s nasty and dangerous policy, but there is no evidence they actually took the time to even read the two-page Executive Order. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/12/11/2020-27455/ensuring-access-to-united-states-government-covid-19-vaccines
It turns out that about 30 days later, in the first two weeks of January, both Pfizer and Moderna revised massively upwards their vaccine production estimates for 2021; and Pfizer said they would exceed the initial March 31 deadline, delivering not 100 million doses but 120 million. It was known by the second week of January that there would be enough doses by the end of April for all the Americans who would roll up their sleeves, and enough in May in case there were unwilling Americans who later changed their minds. The “ability to meet the vaccination needs” was known, but the “interest of the United States to facilitate international access” was ignored and the plans for an international rollout were trashed. After two months of pandemic reality (e.g., variants spreading from the contagion), and the consequent opportunity for a hard-won education, the Biden administration is giving every sign of hysterically blocking out reality.
