What happened?
On 3 June, US President Joe Biden issued a statement on the Global Vaccine Distribution, published by the White House. He said: "My administration supports attempts to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines because, over time, other firms will be needed to produce life-saving doses of proven vaccines that are distributed fairly."

He further provided details about the allocation of the first 25 million doses of the vaccines that look at global coverage and the needs of the most vulnerable countries. At least 75 per cent of these doses—nearly 19 million—will be distributed through COVAX, with about 6 million doses going to Latin America and the Caribbean, 7 million to South and Southeast Asia, and 5 million to Africa. The remaining doses, totalling little over 6 million, will be distributed directly to countries suffering surges, those in crisis, as well as other allies and neighbours such as Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea. 

What is the background?
First, The status of COVID across the globe. Developed countries like the US, Europe, and China in the early 2020s were the first to be struck by the severity of the pandemic. The surge in cases resulted from their global interconnectedness, which involved large-scale travel and tourism. But with their timely public health interventions, they were able to prove effective and have relatively since then been able to prevent to an extent the overwhelming surge of COVID – 19 cases and relatively stabilize the situation. The lack of equipment required to care for COVID-19 patients, such as personal protective equipment, oxygen supply, pulse oximeters, ventilators, ICU beds, has harmed many healthcare and public health systems. In developing countries, the situation has worsened. 

Second, the status of vaccination. It's no easy effort to vaccinate the entire world against COVID-19 and keep it immunized. An estimated 70 per cent of any given population must have been vaccinated or should generate antibodies to the virus to establish adequate immunity. The world has undoubtedly agreed to end the pandemic by vaccinating everyone. Still, the pros and cons can be seen in terms of the operationalization of the plan or the extent to support it. Only 14 per cent of the Latin American population, 4.8 per cent population in Asia, and just 1.2 per cent in Africa have been vaccinated. These underfunded vaccine efforts will surely put countries to reimagine their vaccination efforts.

Third, the WHO statement on the Global Vaccine Initiative. The idea of the WHO stands on a new commitment on Vaccine Equity and Defeating the Pandemic. On 2 June, Director-General of WHO in his speech at the G7 Global Vaccine Confidence Summit, said: "To put an end to the pandemic, we need to eliminate and vaccine inequities want everyone to get immunized everywhere. This would require increased funding for equitable global vaccine distribution and sharing technology and know-how."

Fourth, the charge of hoarding. Since the early days of the pandemic, when the first batch of vaccinations was approved for emergency use across, many countries like the UK, EU, and Canada started hoarding. They started negotiating with manufacturers before the clinical trials were finished, in some cases even before the trials were completed. It can be said that these countries were forced to release these vaccines over criticism for not assisting the massive rise in cases in developing countries. 

What does it mean?
Biden's administration has surely put across something on the table by initiating this program but is it too late, or too little for them to do so? However, it falls well short of meeting the entire world's immunization requirements. Rather than risking the world's health at the mercy of the coronavirus's mutant whims, more countries must step forward to ensure equal access.