US pledges $ 580 million for Omicron expansion for international fight for COVID Coronavirus pandemic News

The announcement comes when the Biden administration released a series of measures aimed at increasing the domestic response.

The United States will provide an additional $ 580 million in international efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic amid rising cases of the Omicron variant.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Tuesday that he will meet with his counterparts in other countries to discuss global cooperation in response to Omicron, officials have said it has already become. main tension of the virus in the US.

“The rapid spread of the Omicron variant reinforces that we must all continue our efforts to end this pandemic and that none of us will be safe until we are all safe,” Blinken said in a statement.

“The world is at a critical juncture in our global response to this virus.”

Additional funding will be provided to the United Nations agencies directly involved in responding to the pandemic, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). The additional funds provide $ 19.6 billion in global funding for the U.S. coronavirus, according to the State Department.

Public health officials say the global response to the pandemic has been short-lived in 2021, as many countries are well below the WHO target of having 40 percent of the population vaccinated by the end of the year.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, health officials have warned that a situation in which low-income countries cannot integrate their populations would prolong the global health crisis and lead to the emergence of vaccine-resistant variants.

Some current research shows that some vaccines require more booster shots to neutralize Omicron he increased the need.

“I call on my opponents to fulfill and strengthen their commitments to fight the pandemic,” Blinken said. “We have to work together, and we have to act fast.”

500 million test

On Tuesday, U.S. President Joe Biden released a series of internal measures to address the government’s response to Omicron’s rise.

In particular, the White House said the federal government will buy 500 million COVID quick-test kits and begin distributing them to free residents from January.

To help hospitals dive under the new COVID-19 wave, Washington is also ready to deploy more than 1,000 medically skilled military personnel as well as direct federal medical staff to the White House in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Arizona, New Hampshire and Vermont. he said.

On Monday, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Biden’s next speech would highlight the state of the government. strategy It focuses on getting more people to get vaccinated and getting boosters.

There are currently 40 million eligible vaccine-free adults in the U.S., according to officials. So far, only about 30 percent of people eligible for the vaccine have been vaccinated.

“This is not a talk about blocking the country,” Psaki said Monday. “This is a talk about the benefits of getting vaccinated.”