U.S. President Joe Biden announced a purchase of 500 million Pfizer vaccines to share with multiple countries by way of the UN-backed COVAX initiative between this year and the next. Brazil, however, will not be receiving donations.
However, Latin America’s largest country — and one of the world’s biggest coronavirus hotbeds — will get part of a 6-million-dose donation by the Biden White House announced a week ago.
According to Axios, Mr. Biden could pursue similar deals with Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. The move comes after the government’s “America first” approach to vaccines, which opened a path for Russia and China to push for more influence and goodwill in Latin America by way of vaccine donations.
The 2020 annual report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) clearly showed how U.S. authorities tried to convince Brazil not to purchase the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine, out of fear of Moscow’s enhanced influence over Latin America. The report mentioned the move as a way to “combat malignant influences in the Americas.”
- 🎙️ You should listen to Explaining Brazil #150: Vaccine diplomacy in Latin America
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