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Consider This from NPR

4 Countries Dominate Doses As Pressure Grows For Global Vaccine Solutions

Consider This from NPR

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, Daily News, News

4.2 β€’ 6.2K Ratings

πŸ—“οΈ 29 March 2021

⏱️ ? minutes

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Summary

More than half of worldwide vaccine doses have been administered in just four countries β€” India, China, the U.K. and the U.S. That kind of inequity will "extend the pandemic, globally," says Tom Bollyky, director of the Global Health program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

NPR's Tamara Keith reports on the growing pressure for the Biden administration to step up its vaccine diplomacy.

NPR's Lauren Frayer tours the largest vaccine factory in the world's top vaccine producing-country, India β€” a country poised for an even bigger role in global vaccine distribution. You can see photos and more from her report on the Serum Institute of India here.

Additional reporting in this episode from NPR's Jason Beaubien.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

In the U.S., one in three adults has now had a COVID-19 vaccine.

0:05.0

No other countries come close.

0:07.0

100 million shots in less than 60 days.

0:11.0

And now, on Monday, President Biden announced plans to send that number even higher, expanding

0:16.2

the federal vaccine rollout to more pharmacies and setting up new mass vaccine sites.

0:21.8

The goal, by April 19, is for 90 percent of Americans to have a vaccine site within five

0:28.4

miles where they live.

0:29.4

You know, we will administer more shots in March than any country on Earth.

0:34.4

That's good news for people in the U.S., but it also underscores the global disparity

0:39.2

in who's getting vaccinated and who isn't.

0:42.8

More than half of all vaccine doses administered have gone to people in just four countries.

0:48.4

China, India, the UK, and the United States.

0:52.4

And what that means is that it extends the pandemic globally.

0:56.2

Tom Boyke is director of the global health program at the Council on Foreign Relations.

1:01.8

So even if we managed to vaccinate our own population in the U.S., if the pandemic is

1:06.7

still raging abroad, it leaves us at a risk.

1:10.4

Some countries still have no vaccine at all.

1:13.4

Others barely enough for two or three percent of their population.

1:17.7

Tom Boyke says there are two ways to fix this.

1:21.1

Countries with resources despair can give cash or they can give doses.

1:25.3

Right now what we've seen is wealthy democracies are donating cash while autocracies, nations

1:32.1

like China and Russia are donating doses.

...

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