Biden Administration Defends Ban On Export Of Vaccine Raw Material Says 'Americans First'

Defending US's restrictions on the export of key raw materials for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine, a senior State Department official has said the Biden administration's first obligation is to take care of the requirements of the American people.

Joe Biden (Image Source AFP)

New Delhi: Responding to the request to lift the ban on the export of raw material for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine which in turn threatens to slow India's vaccination drive, a State Dept. official said that the Biden administration has to put the needs of the American people first. 

A State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: "...the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people," when he was asked 

"That campaign is well underway, and we're doing that for a couple of reasons. Number one, we have a special responsibility to the American people. Number two, the American people, this country has been hit harder than any other country around the world more than 550,000 deaths, tens of millions of infections in this country alone," he said on Thursday according to PTI.

"It is not only in the US interest to see Americans vaccinated; but it is in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated," he further said. 

"The point the Secretary (of State Antony Blinken) has made repeatedly is that as long as the virus is spreading anywhere, it is a threat to people everywhere. So as long as the virus is spreading uncontrolled in this country, it can mutate and it can travel beyond our borders. That, in turn, poses a threat well beyond the United States," Price said in responses to questions as per PTI.

Reiterating that the need of the comes first, Price was quoted as saying, "We will, of course, always do as much as we can, consistent with our first obligation".

The US has ramped up the production of COVID-19 vaccines mostly by Pfizer and Moderna to meet the goal of vaccinating its entire population by July 4th 2021.

Recently, the Biden administration conveyed to New Delhi that it understands the India's pharmaceutical requirements and promised to give the matter due consideration. The current difficulty in the export of critical raw materials needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines is mainly due to an Act that forces American companies to prioritise domestic consumption.

President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump had invoked the war-time Defence Production Act (DPA) that leaves US companies with no option but to give priority to the production of COVID-19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for domestic production to combat the deadly pandemic in America, the worst-hit nation. 

The Serum Institute of India is the world's largest producer of the COVID-19 vaccine asked the newly appointed US President Joe Biden to lift the embargo imposed on US exports of raw materials in order to to help ramp up vaccine production in the country. 

SII is currently manufacturing anti-coronavirus vaccine Covishield, developed by Astrazeneca and Oxford University. The vaccine is not only being used in India, but exported to a number of countries.