US says “no” to international vaccine cooperation, Erna Solberg disappointed

The US has decided not to join the WHO-led Covax collaboration to develop and distribute a vaccine against the coronavirus.

The decision disappointed Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg.

“I wish the United States had participated in the international work related to vaccine development and funding for poor countries,” Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) told newspaper VG.

Last week, it became clear that the United States would not join the cooperation effort.

The White House said the decision was partly because the World Health Organization (WHO) is involved.

The current US administration believes the WHO corrupt and under Chinese influence.  

Covax is led by the WHO, together with the vaccine alliances Cepi and Gavi.

The cooperation will ensure that all countries receive vaccine doses simultaneously so that they can be distributed to the most severely affected population groups.

“I’ve noticed that, even though the US is not participating in Covax, they provide financial support to several of the implementation partners, for example, Gavi.

From my understanding, the US is still involved, but to a lesser extent, due to the fact that they do not want to participate in the World Health Organization’s measures,” Solberg concluded.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today