In April, the Biden administration announced plans to share millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses with the world by the end of June. Five weeks later, nations around the globe are still waiting to learn where the vaccines will go and how they will be distributed.
It's obviously challenging, because so many countries face this need right now
To President Joe Biden, the doses are not only the ultimate carrot for America's partners abroad, but also a necessary tool for global health, capable of saving millions of lives and returning a semblance of normalcy to friends and foes alike.
The question is, what share of doses should be provided to those who need it most, and how many should be reserved for US partners?
So far, the answer appears to be that the administration will provide the bulk of the doses to Covax, the UN-backed global vaccine sharing programme meant to meet the needs of lower income countries.
While the percentage is not yet finalised, it would mark a substantial – and immediate – boost to the lagging Covax effort, which to date has shared only 76 million doses with needy countries.
The Biden administration is considering reserving about a fourth of the doses for the US to dispense directly to individual nations of its choice.
The growing US stockpile of Covid-19 vaccines is seen not only as a testament to American ingenuity, but also its global privilege.
More than 50 per cent of Americans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 135 million are fully vaccinated, helping to bring the rate of cases and deaths in the US to the lowest level since the earliest days of the pandemic.
Scores of countries have requested doses from the US, but to date only Mexico and Canada have received a combined 4.5 million doses.
The US also plans to share enough doses with South Korea to vaccinate its 550,000 troops who serve alongside American service members on the peninsula.
The broader US sharing plan is still being finalised, a White House official said, having been the subject of policy debate inside the White House and across the federal government, and also involving Covax and other outside stakeholders such as drug manufacturers and logistics experts.
“Our nation’s going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world,” Mr Biden said on May 17, when he announced the US pledge to share more doses.
He added that, compared to other countries like Russia and China that have sought to leverage their domestically produced doses, "we will not use our vaccines to secure favours from other countries".
Still, the partnership with the South Korean military points to the ability of the US to use its vaccine stockpile to benefit some of its better-off allies.
It was not clear whether South Korea would pay for its doses from the US. Most of the other doses were expected to be donated.
Covax boost
Samantha Power, the new USAid administrator, provided the first indication of the likely allocation last week in testimony to the Senate.
She told the Senate Appropriations Committee that “75 per cent of the doses we share will likely be shared through Covax. Twenty-five per cent of whatever our excess supply is that we are donating will be reserved to be able to deploy bilaterally.”
Administration officials cautioned that Mr Biden had not yet signed off on the precise split and that it could still change. One said the administration would be working in coming days to synchronise its supplies with the global vaccine-sharing organisations.
Mr Biden has committed to providing other nations with all 60 million domestically produced doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
That vaccine has yet to be authorised for use in the US but is widely approved around the world. The US-produced doses will be available to ship as soon as they clear a safety review by the Food and Drug Administration.
The president has also promised to share 20 million doses from existing production of Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine stocks. Even more doses are expected to be made available to share in the months ahead.
As part of its purchase agreements with drug manufacturers, the US controlled the initial production by its domestic manufacturers. Pfizer and Moderna are only now starting to export vaccines produced in the US to overseas customers. The US has hundreds of millions more doses on order, both of authorised and in-development vaccines.
"It's obviously challenging because so many countries face this need right now," Ms Power said, calling the decision of where to send doses "an urgent question".
She said it hinged on a combination of "the relationship we have with the countries, the public health and epidemiological scientific trajectory of the disease, and a sense of where the vaccines can do the most good, the infrastructure and readiness of countries to receive vaccines".
The US has pledged $4 billion to Covax to help it procure and distribute vaccines. Covax has committed to sharing the doses with more than 90 countries, including many with which the US has tumultuous relations.
Leaving it to Covax to decide how the bulk of the US-provided doses are distributed is seen by the administration as the most equitable way to determine who will benefit. That could allow the US to avoid any political fallout that might come from sharing the vaccine directly with adversaries.
“It’s not only a symbol of American values – it’s smart global health policy,” said Tom Hart, acting CEO of the ONE Campaign, which has pressed the Biden administration to move faster to develop its global sharing plan.
"I don't want a variant cooking up in some remote part of the world, anywhere in the world, which then might get around the current vaccines that we've got."
Globally, more than 3.5 million people are confirmed to have died from the coronavirus. The US has seen the largest confirmed loss of life from Covid-19, with more than 594,000 deaths.
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')
Manchester City 0
ENGLAND SQUAD
Joe Root (c), Moeen Ali, Jimmy Anderson, Jonny Bairstow, Stuart Broad, Jos Buttler, Alastair Cook, Sam Curran, Keaton Jennings, Ollie Pope, Adil Rashid, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes
The biog
Title: General Practitioner with a speciality in cardiology
Previous jobs: Worked in well-known hospitals Jaslok and Breach Candy in Mumbai, India
Education: Medical degree from the Government Medical College in Nagpur
How it all began: opened his first clinic in Ajman in 1993
Family: a 90-year-old mother, wife and two daughters
Remembers a time when medicines from India were purchased per kilo
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Wednesday
4.15pm: Japan v Spain (Group A)
5.30pm: UAE v Italy (Group A)
6.45pm: Russia v Mexico (Group B)
8pm: Iran v Egypt (Group B)
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HWJN
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The Facility’s Versatility
Between the start of the 2020 IPL on September 20, and the end of the Pakistan Super League this coming Thursday, the Zayed Cricket Stadium has had an unprecedented amount of traffic.
Never before has a ground in this country – or perhaps anywhere in the world – had such a volume of major-match cricket.
And yet scoring has remained high, and Abu Dhabi has seen some classic encounters in every format of the game.
October 18, IPL, Kolkata Knight Riders tied with Sunrisers Hyderabad
The two playoff-chasing sides put on 163 apiece, before Kolkata went on to win the Super Over
January 8, ODI, UAE beat Ireland by six wickets
A century by CP Rizwan underpinned one of UAE’s greatest ever wins, as they chased 270 to win with an over to spare
February 6, T10, Northern Warriors beat Delhi Bulls by eight wickets
The final of the T10 was chiefly memorable for a ferocious over of fast bowling from Fidel Edwards to Nicholas Pooran
March 14, Test, Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by six wickets
Eleven wickets for Rashid Khan, 1,305 runs scored in five days, and a last session finish
June 17, PSL, Islamabad United beat Peshawar Zalmi by 15 runs
Usman Khawaja scored a hundred as Islamabad posted the highest score ever by a Pakistan team in T20 cricket
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre flat-six twin-turbocharged
Transmission: eight-speed PDK automatic
Power: 445bhp
Torque: 530Nm
Price: Dh474,600
On Sale: Now
10 tips for entry-level job seekers
- Have an up-to-date, professional LinkedIn profile. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account, set one up today. Avoid poor-quality profile pictures with distracting backgrounds. Include a professional summary and begin to grow your network.
- Keep track of the job trends in your sector through the news. Apply for job alerts at your dream organisations and the types of jobs you want – LinkedIn uses AI to share similar relevant jobs based on your selections.
- Double check that you’ve highlighted relevant skills on your resume and LinkedIn profile.
- For most entry-level jobs, your resume will first be filtered by an applicant tracking system for keywords. Look closely at the description of the job you are applying for and mirror the language as much as possible (while being honest and accurate about your skills and experience).
- Keep your CV professional and in a simple format – make sure you tailor your cover letter and application to the company and role.
- Go online and look for details on job specifications for your target position. Make a list of skills required and set yourself some learning goals to tick off all the necessary skills one by one.
- Don’t be afraid to reach outside your immediate friends and family to other acquaintances and let them know you are looking for new opportunities.
- Make sure you’ve set your LinkedIn profile to signal that you are “open to opportunities”. Also be sure to use LinkedIn to search for people who are still actively hiring by searching for those that have the headline “I’m hiring” or “We’re hiring” in their profile.
- Prepare for online interviews using mock interview tools. Even before landing interviews, it can be useful to start practising.
- Be professional and patient. Always be professional with whoever you are interacting with throughout your search process, this will be remembered. You need to be patient, dedicated and not give up on your search. Candidates need to make sure they are following up appropriately for roles they have applied.
Arda Atalay, head of Mena private sector at LinkedIn Talent Solutions, Rudy Bier, managing partner of Kinetic Business Solutions and Ben Kinerman Daltrey, co-founder of KinFitz
Apple%20Mac%20through%20the%20years
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
