U.S ‘first and foremost’ wants to vaccinate the American people,’ State Dept on COVID vaccine export to embattled India

According to the State Department, the United States under the Biden Administration "first and foremost" wants to vaccinate the American people, facing accusations of vaccine hoarding by the broader international community.

"United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people", according to the State Department.

The Biden Administration has come under fire for its alleged hoarding of essential vaccines for domestic use, without sharing even a portion of its supplies with the international community.

The United States has already expressed its intention to vaccinate every American, and has offered $4 billion for the COVAX fund (through 2022).

In January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had sharp criticism for such vaccine nationalism, stating that “The rich countries of the world went out and acquired large doses of vaccines from the developers and manufacturers of these vaccines, and some countries have even gone beyond and acquired up to four times what their populations need. … That was aimed at hoarding these vaccines and now this is being done to the exclusion of other countries in the world that most need this."

The United States has already delivered 24 shots for every 100 Americans, while in comparison, China has given 3.7 for every 100 of its residents, Russia 2.7, and India 1.1.

Yet, unlike President Biden, the leaders of India, Russia and China have already begun shipping millions of doses abroad.

While, there was a rush of executive orders in Biden’s first days in office, the one major exception was President Trump’s ban on vaccine exports.