Krishnamoorthi calls on Biden to release AstraZeneca vaccine stores to ailing countries

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Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) on Saturday evening called on the Biden Administration to release its supply of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to countries experiencing a surge in coronavirus infections.

Krishnamoorthi, 47, a member of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, said in a statement that the U.S. needs to get the doses of the vaccine that it is not using to other countries that are experiencing intense surges in COVID-19.

"We are currently sitting on close to 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.S. stockpile, a stockpile which we’re not using and which we’ve already opened to combat COVID-19 in Mexico and Canada," Kirshnamoorthi said.

"In order to curb the spread of this virus internationally and to protect public health and our international economy, we need to get these vaccines out the door now,” he continued.

At: https://thehill.com/homenews/house/550137-krishnamoorthi-calls-on-biden-to-release-us-astrazeneca-vaccine-stores-to

Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL)

"We need to release our stockpile of unused AstraZeneca vaccines now," he tweeted.

"In India alone, almost 350,000 COVID-19 cases were reported today. When people in India and elsewhere desperately need help, we can’t let vaccines sit in a warehouse, we need to get them where they’ll save lives."

While new cases in the U.S. have hovered around 60,000 over the part two months (one-fourth the January highs), average daily cases worldwide have more than doubled to 820,000.

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1. I agree. At this point it's hoarding. That's really messed up.

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2. And what's more, we're leaving the field wide open to Russia and China

In many 3rd world countries, most of the vaccine supply - if they have any at all - is either from Gamaleya or Sinopharm (as well as Sinovac, a private Chinese firm).

Making U.S. surplus doses available in large numbers would earn America foreign policy plaudits - besides being the right thing to do.

Biden has of course taken notice, and is said to working on plans to that effect by June or so (https://democraticunderground.com/114225224).

In many of these countries, as you know, hospitals - and mortuaries - are already at or above capacity.