"We don't have enough to be confident to send it abroad"? This is absurd from @POTUS and US vaccine nationalism at its clearest. Consider what amount of vaccines the US has "on the shelves" now, what it has sent to others and what say the EU has done to date? 🧵 https://twitter.com/Quicktake/status/1384959503829975040
1) The US has per the @CDCgov a current unused stockpile of ~63mn FDA approved vacc doses ( @Pfizer/ @moderna_tx / J&J), number that due to slowing vaccination rates as Americans who want it has already got it is rising at over 1mn/day.... https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#vaccinations
2) On top of that US medical experts estimate that the US now has 35-40mn non-FDA approved @AstraZeneca vaccines in storage, that it (given its focus on mRNA vaccines and AZ's side effects) is highly unlikely to ever use https://twitter.com/ashishkjha/status/1385194010227138561
3) In total therefore the US has 100+mn (and rising!) vaccine doses currently on its shelves, while it refuses to export any to anyone, having to date just lent 4.2mn AZ doses to Canada and Mexico. Contrast to what EU vaccine policy enables firms located here to do is striking!
4) @business data show EU approved exports of 136mn doses in 2021 alone, mostly going to US Treaty allies in Japan, UK and its other neighbor in Mexico. Lawsuits has caused US vaccine production capacity to be extremely low for decades (H/T @JuliusWaller) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1383764/
6) With India in the middle of a deadly 2nd wave, Russia with limited prod capacity, China likely to begin importing Pfizer vaccines for the mainland (with Fosun), the UK a vaccine net importer, only a change in US government policy can likely make a real difference NOW! @POTUS?
You can follow @jfkirkegaard.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: