Fauci pledges US Covax support in re-engagement with WHO
- by Leona Burton
- in World Media
- — Jan 23, 2021
President Joe Biden's first full day in office on Thursday focused on rolling out his national strategy to get the coronavirus pandemic under control and signing several executive actions, including ramping up vaccination supplies and requiring global travelers to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to traveling to the US.
Biden notified the United Nations in a letter on Wednesday that the USA had reversed a plan by the administration of former President Donald Trump to withdraw from the WHO.
Thursday was Fauci's first appearance at a White House press briefing under the Biden administration.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke at Thursday's session of a series of executive board meetings that began on Monday. He confirmed that the U.S. will join Covax, a 92-nation vaccine collaboration that the Trump administration declined to participate in.
More news: Pfizer to supply 40 million COVID-19 shots for poor countriesMr. Fauci, speaking by video-conference from pre-dawn United States to WHO's executive board, said the US will join the UN health agency's efforts to bring vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics to people in need, whether in rich or poor countries.
"We've really got to restore trust and restore a unified approach", Fauci told CNN.
The president has pledged to provide 100 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine during his first 100 days in office.
The US has been the WHO's largest contributor, providing $400 million to $500 million in mandatory and voluntary contributions, and Trump's decision a year ago drew sharp criticism in Congress, as well as from allies in Europe. The US also wants to work with other World Health Organization members to reform and strengthen the organisation, he said.
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Stoffels added that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would not authorise the vaccine candidate before March 2021, as the regulator is expected to assemble an external expert panel to review the data and make recommendations-a process that can take weeks, it added. Yet several have questioned whether the program will get the vaccines it needs, the WHO's Tedros said earlier this week.
An global investigation into the origins of a coronavirus that has now killed more than 400,000 people in the USA and 2 million people worldwide must be "robust and clear", Fauci said. A number of governments are also pursuing their own supply deals through direct talks with manufacturers. He praised Fauci for his "incredible leadership" on COVID-19, adding that for the world, the US role in public health is "very, very crucial". And a report issued to the media this week by a panel convened by World Health Organization concluded the agency could have acted quicker to stem the emerging coronavirus and might have labeled it a pandemic sooner.
More news: United Kingdom reports 1,401 COVID-19 deaths, more than 5 million vaccinated
