Harris announces $250 million in global funding for future pandemics.

While President Biden gathered with heads of state for a Covid-19 summit, Vice President Kamala Harris on Wednesday announced that the United States will contribute at least $250 million to a new global health security fund that the administration hopes will raise $10 billion to fight future pandemics.

Declaring the coronavirus pandemic a “stark warning” for an increasingly interconnected world, Ms. Harris called for international unity to address a lack of funding for pandemic preparedness highlighted by the flaws in the global response to Covid-19. To counter future biological threats, the $10 billion collective goal would be used on a variety of issues like disease surveillance, vaccine design, and support for health care workers.

“We need to act so that our world will be ready to respond before and not after the next pandemic emerges,” Ms. Harris stated that the Biden administration had requested $850 million more from Congress to fund the new fund.

Perhaps recognizing the political challenges that obtaining such funding would face from U.S. lawmakers, Ms. Harris said the administration supports the creation of a “global health threats council” to ensure transparency and accountability for all nations that commit to financing the fund.

The announcement comes as both the Biden administration (and U.S. drug firms) are facing increasing pressure to address global Covid-19 vaccine shortage. As part of the administration’s efforts, Mr. Biden also announced on Wednesday a new partnership with the European Union aimed at expanding access to vaccines.

The European Union announced that it will donate 500 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to the United States and increase coordination with American counterparts in order to provide and administer the vaccines. Official figures show that although the European Union has committed to donating 200 million doses by 2021, its member countries have only given 21 million doses.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the E.U.’s executive arm, has named global vaccination the bloc’s most urgent priority for the year ahead: “The scale of injustice and the level of urgency are obvious,” Ms. von der Leyen said in a speech on the state of the union last week.

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