MS SMITH: Thank you, and hi, everybody.
So as you know, the President has just announced that we will purchase and donate 500 million
doses of the Pfizer vaccine to start a real push to get the world vaccinated.
This is, I think, American leadership at its best, and it is part of a broader plan that
includes the 80 million doses that we are sharing that the President’s already announced,
and efforts to get producers to produce more supply this year, even as we invest in local
manufacture in a number of countries that we think can bring more vaccines online by
the end of the year.
It’s our very strong view that given the lack of coverage around the world, it was
absolutely critical to make a big move like this to get more vaccines into the system
as quickly as possible.
These vaccines will become available as of August even as we are pushing out the 80 million
doses that have already been announced.
As you know, the President is going to be in the G7 summit.
We’ve been working closely with our allies for the last several weeks on this and look
forward to further announcements at the summit itself.
Happy to take any more questions on this.
I think I would simply say as somebody who has worked on a lot of viruses in my life
and this pandemic since it started, we think this is going to be a game-changer in finally
starting the flow of vaccines around the world in order to bring this pandemic to an end.
MR PRICE: Said.
QUESTION: Yes, ma’am.
MS SMITH: Yeah.
QUESTION: Thank you.
Thank you, ma’am.
How would you prioritize?
I know – I mean, no one country is more needy than —
MS SMITH: Right.
QUESTION: — the other and so on.
How would you prioritize and distribute these vaccines around the world?
MS SMITH: Right.
Of the 500 million new vaccines that the President just announced, as you rightly suggest, there
is need everywhere.
So these are going to be allocated to the 92 COVAX AMC countries – advance market
commitment countries – and countries in the African Union.
That’s a total of approximately 100 countries.
These are the lower-income countries; that it’s harder for them to procure vaccines
on the market and to self-finance, and we’ve got real problems with under-coverage of vaccines
in those countries.
So that’s the universe of countries to which the 500 million vaccines will go.
MR PRICE: Humeyra.
QUESTION: I just want to make the 4 billion vs 3.5 billion clear.
So U.S. had committed $2 billion through COVAX and then said there would be another 2, and
then when it comes to the half million doses, the cost was set to be 3.5.
So is that 3.5 as part of that 4 or is it on top of it?
MS SMITH: Yeah.
We’re entering into the final stages of the contract now, and the funding will come
out of already appropriated funds.
And as we get it finalized, I’d be happy to go through that with you.
QUESTION: Right.
And on Latin America, I’m just wondering if you will be directing doses to specific
countries in Latin America, or you will allow COVAX to do so.
MS SMITH: Yeah.
So there’s two flows of vaccines in addition to those vaccines that will come through COVAX
on the basis of our financial support.
There are the 25 million first tranche of the 80 million, and then these 500 million.
In those cases, we will work with COVAX, but we will also have some weighing in on what
countries we want to focus on, and that’s based on several things.
We want to get global coverage.
We want to be able to focus on countries where there is a surge or they may be considered
a hot spot, where there’s a real risk because of incidence.
And we also want to be responsive, particularly in our own hemisphere, to the many requests
that we’ve had.
MR PRICE: Mouhamed.
QUESTION: Yes, hi, thank you.
MS SMITH: Hi.
QUESTION: Hi, thank you for doing this.
My name is Mouhamed Elahmed with Al Jazeera Arabic.
I have couple of questions.
So what type of vaccines are we talking about?
Are we talking about Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, or a mixture of all of those vaccines?
And also, are we talking about first step that would be followed by other steps?
And how do you assess the global response to COVID?
Does it a require a more U.S. engagement, or do you think that the world response so
far is doing pretty good?
MS SMITH: Sure.
So on your first question, the doses that we are sharing from our national supply – so
that’s the 80 million doses – those are a combination of J&J and Moderna.
And then the 500 million that the President just announced are Pfizer.
QUESTION: Oh, okay.
MS SMITH: So that’s your answer there.
I think what this means – and the President’s been very clear about the role of American
leadership in this response from the first announcement he made on sharing doses, and
it is absolutely his intention to lead.
But as he has pointed out, that for us to be successful and operate at scale, then it’s
got to be more than just the United States.
We’re prepared to be out front leading, but we certainly need to work with our partners.
Our partners have in general been very, very supportive of the international response.
We’ve been working with them and we’re quite hopeful that what will come out of the
G7 is an even more extensive response from our partner countries.
So we’re looking for more there.
I think that over time, this is going to demand continued U.S. leadership.
This is a pandemic that affects the entire planet.
We are still at the emergency level in too many countries.
As we all know, the humanitarian and economic impacts of an unchecked pandemic create further
damage to lives and livelihoods.
So this is going to be an extensive response and we’re prepared to stay fully engaged.
QUESTION: And talking about the origin of the vaccine.
Does this mean that China has to step in and do more in terms of vaccine distribution to
the world?
MS SMITH: Well, I think – we believe and I think the G7 believes that it is our role
to do two things.
One is make these vaccines available, to donate them, particularly those countries that can’t
afford them.
And the second to provide them on the basis of no expectation.
These are tools for ending a pandemic.
These are not tools for creating pressure or trying to exert influence.
QUESTION: Thank you.
MR PRICE: Francesco.
QUESTION: You said that the rest of the world needs to do more.
What would be, for you, a good outcome from the G7, in terms of target of doses donated
to the world, after the 500 million announcement by the President?
MS SMITH: Yeah.
You’ll forgive me if I don’t want to get ahead of the summit itself, but I think we
need a forward-leaning commitment through the remainder of this year and into next year.
And additionally, whatever we may announce collectively at the G7, we’re all going
to have to continue to up our game to get this pandemic to an end.
MR PRICE: Matt.
QUESTION: Can I just ask you, are you seeing the same kind – anywhere near the same level
of vaccine hesitancy or outright rejection overseas that you’re – that we’re seeing
here?
And is there a component of this program for education, for kind of encouraging people
in countries, in the countries that are going to be getting these vaccines to actually take
them?
MS SMITH: Right.
No, it’s a really good question.
The fact is we’re seeing vaccine hesitancy pretty much in every country, for different
reasons, but I think it’s a common feature, just as we’ve seen it here.
And then there’s also both misinformation and disinformation.
And in its role in the humanitarian global health response, the U.S. Agency for International
Development, USAID, has programs that are for, among other things, vaccine readiness
– so how do you get a country really ready to implement.
And part of that programming is to work with local trusted interlocutors, to work with
local journalists, to work with others, to try to get information out there, just as
we have done here, about the safety and efficacy of vaccines so that we can make sure that
as many people as possible are vaccinated.
QUESTION: Right.
But that’s USAID.
I’m talking about in the G7 context.
Is there something – is there similar – something similar that’s going to be attached to this
kind of —
MS SMITH: I think what you can assume is attached to this is all the G7 members are involved
in the provision of assistance that supports – right?
Supports delivery and distribution.
QUESTION: So supportive delivery is – that include – that would include education,
and that kind of —
MS SMITH: In most cases, yes.
I can’t speak to every member of the G7, but that’s something – and that’s something
that countries themselves are very focused on, because they want to make sure they get
the coverage that is going to protect them for the long term.
MR PRICE: We’ll take a couple more questions.
QUESTION: Can I just follow up?
I’m curious about the decision-making behind which countries are getting these.
And you said you’ll be focused on countries where there is a surge and, of course, Western
Hemisphere.
But I am wondering if countries that China has already given vaccines to – are you
looking at that at all as you game out, decide where the U.S. is going to be giving these
vaccines to?
MS SMITH: I’d say two things.
The reference to Latin America and so on – we have two streams of vaccines, right?
We have the 80 million doses with the 25 we’re in the process of moving.
In that, we have looked very much at global coverage, at being responsive to surges, but
also to the requests of our friends and neighbors.
In this 500 million dose allocation or contribution, we will work with COVAX on that.
And our goal here is coverage, is to get the kind of coverage that’s needed.
There’s methodologies that you can use to figure out how you narrow the scope and the
opportunity for the virus to replicate and mutate.
We’ll be taking those things into consideration.
We will be looking at countries, whether they have supply or not, whether they can add a
particular kind of vaccine.
So there are going to be a number of considerations that we’ll put in place, along with COVAX
and countries in the regions to make sure we got the smartest allocation.
MR PRICE: Michele.
QUESTION: Follow up real quickly on that.
Yeah, there’s been criticism on the right about this administration working too much
with multilateral institutions or groups like the WHO, which just has Syria now on its board.
I just wonder how you counter that.
Why does it make sense to work through these international organizations?
MS SMITH: Yeah, I’d say a couple things.
And some of these allocations out of the 80 million we’re going to do bilaterally.
But COVAX is built on a platform, the Global Alliance for Vaccines, which is something
the United States and both parties in Congress have supported for almost 20 years.
It’s the main provider of childhood vaccines around the world; it was the provider of the
vaccines in outbreaks of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
So it’s a known entity.
That’s number one.
Number two, we think it’s quite important, in addition to whatever we might do bilaterally,
that there be a multilateral commitment in this as well, that the world is standing together
to say, “We’re going to end this pandemic.”
And organizations like COVAX are critical for that, similarly with WHO.
We can always look at improvements in organizations, but we need these international institutions
to solve global problems.
And so it’s certainly our intention to do what we can multilaterally, but also act bilaterally.
MR PRICE: Michael.
QUESTION: Forgive me if you addressed this already and I missed it.
You said the vaccines will become available in August.
Can you talk about the timeline from August for them getting into arms around the world?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Yeah.
It’s a bit hard to predict how long that will take, but they will come available and
start moving in August, and then be available on a monthly basis through the end of the
year and into 2022.
Our intention is to work with COVAX to move them as quickly as possible into the countries
where they’re needed, and then obviously to deploy them as quickly as possible.
QUESTION: How do you mean monthly – I’m sorry – how do you mean monthly basis?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: I mean that 500 million vaccines are not going to be appear in August.
QUESTION: Right.
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Right?
It’s going to be a subset of those.
I think it’s in the range of 50 million will be the first availability.
And there will be more vaccines every month.
QUESTION: I see.
AMBASSADOR SMITH: As they come available, we will move them out, and then as they land
in country, there will be plans to deploy them through national vaccine plans.
QUESTION: Thanks.
You said earlier you think this is going to be a gamechanger in finally starting to bring
an end to the pandemic.
Should the U.S. have done something like this sooner, and is it enough?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Well, I think there’s more for the world to do.
There’s no question.
And I think that – look, I as an American citizen am enormously grateful for what the
President has done to bring the pandemic under control in this country, and that’s his
first and his primary obligation.
But he’s been very clear since the start that once there was a level of comfort with
where we are with the pandemic in the United States, we would immediately turn to leading
on the global stage, and he’s done that.
And I’d remind you that one of his very first moves was the provision of $2 billion
to COVAX to move that forward.
I think all of us are going to have to continue to stay on the case.
As the President has said, we’re going to continue to lead on this.
We will continue to do more.
We’re going to expect and work with our allies and others so that they do more as
well.
But I think we’re in this for the long haul.
MR PRICE: Abbie.
QUESTION: Apologies if I missed this as well, but is there any specific effort or attention
being made to help refugee populations, particularly in refugee camps where COVID-19 has obviously
been such a problem?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Yes.
Yeah, we’ve got a focus on that in two ways.
Through the State Department and our Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration we
are providing assistance that is targeted towards refugees and the impact of the pandemic
on those populations.
As well there is what’s called a humanitarian buffer available so that there are ways to
reach, say, refugee populations in a given country.
So that is something that between our international partners, the State Department, and USAID,
we’re focused on those disenfranchised populations that are hard to get to.
So yes.
MR PRICE: Let’s take a final question in the back.
QUESTION: Hi.
Good afternoon.
It’s Sebastian Fest from Infobae, Argentina.
I would like to know whether there was any reflection in the government about giving
some vaccines to Venezuela, even knowing the big political differences between both countries.
AMBASSADOR SMITH: I think our view has been that vaccines need to be available to citizens
everywhere if we’re going to end the pandemic.
Whether or not we are the ones that provide them is a different story.
So I can’t speak to the specifics of that, but I do think in principle it’s our view
that vaccines need to be made available everywhere.
QUESTION: There was no debate?
This was not even an idea?
I mean, there was no debate?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: I’m not going to go into what the internal discussions have been about
how we allocate vaccines.
But to tell you where the guard rails are, one is that we think vaccines need to be made
available everywhere.
And as the United States, we’re going to do everything we can to maximize coverage.
QUESTION: Thank you.
AMBASSADOR SMITH: But also coordinate with other countries and also other donors so that
we can make sure the world’s in fact covered.
MR PRICE: Thank you very much, Coordinator Smith.
Appreciate it.
QUESTION: Thank you.
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Thanks, everybody.
MR PRICE: Please come back any time.
QUESTION: Well, actually, we hope she doesn’t, right?
Because if she does come back, that means the pandemic is continuing, right?
AMBASSADOR SMITH: Oh yeah, I’ll have this wrapped up by Monday.