Blinken says U.S. will soon distribute coronavirus vaccines in first visit to Latin America, but details are slim

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that the United States would soon distribute millions of doses of coronavirus vaccines around the world, including in Latin America, which is struggling to obtain them for its citizens amid rising hospitalization rates.

But the question on the minds of many — which countries will receive doses first and how quickly will they be delivered — remained unanswered as Blinken began his first official visit to the region.

“Sometime in the next week to two weeks we will be announcing the process by which we will distribute those vaccines,” Blinken said at a news conference in San Jose with Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada.

President Biden promised to provide 80 million doses to other countries by the end of June. But his administration has not provided further details amid a global competition for vaccines that has left many developing countries far behind the industrialized West.

In Costa Rica, a country of 5 million people that recently imposed nationwide driving restrictions to lessen the strain on hospitals overloaded with covid-19 patients, the question loomed large. Both Blinken and Alvarado Quesada were asked whether Costa Rica would receive doses this summer.

Alvarado Quesada made clear after his meeting with Blinken and top aides that no firm promises had been made yet.

“We look forward to what the United States is going to announce in the matter of vaccines,” he told reporters at San Jose’s presidential palace. “We hope to be part of the countries that receive that.”

The United States has focused on vaccinating its own population, distributing only 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico while committing $4 billion to Covax, the international platform supported by the World Health Organization that donates vaccines to countries in need.

“We will focus on equity,” he said. “We’ll focus on science. We’ll work in coordination with Covax and we will distribute vaccines without political requirements of those receiving them.”

(THE WASHINGTON POST)