Foreign
By Kennedy Nnamani
ANTONY J. Blinken, U.S Secretary of State, has expressed optimism to achieve 70 per cent global vaccination by the end of 2022 through public-private partnerships. The Secretary made this known at a Health Security Partnership Roundtable in Melbourne, Australia on February 9, 2022.
Blinken reckoned with the role that the U.S and Australia are playing in leading the fight against COVID-19 and trying to build back a better and stronger global health security system.
“But for all the work that the governments are doing – and it’s absolutely necessary – I think what gives me the most cause for optimism are the public-private partnerships that we’ve been building and, of course, the work of the private sector to finally get us to a better place,” he said.
He emphasized the need for both countries to continue the effort in making sure that the fight is maintained through various vital means cutting across production and distribution of vaccines, supporting healthcare workers who are on the frontlines so as to attain safety for all.
“We intend to see that through, but we know the challenges that go with getting that done and getting that done effectively, but at the same time, as we’re doing that, we have to be building a stronger global health security system so that next time around we’re better prepared where we can deal more effectively; hopefully we can prevent, we can detect, we can mitigate more effectively,” he said.
While speaking on some achievements of this partnership, Blinken recognized the works of Moderna, which he described as “a household name” around the world, noting that the partnership with the Australian Government to open a mRNA facility, production facility is a perfect example of how free, open societies can actually come together and deliver benefits to people around the world.
“So this will be the first facility in the Southern Hemisphere to manufacture mRNA vaccines, and that’s going to be a very powerful thing,” he noted.
The secretary also highlighted other partnerships with Illumina, University of Melbourne, IBM for the service of public good.
“I just thought this was a wonderful way to illustrate how both our countries and governments are working together, but also how we’re doing this in a public-private way, and hopefully to the benefit of a lot of people,” he added.
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Tags: ANTONY J. Blinken IBM Illumina Kennedy Nnamani
