Americans should get whichever vaccine is offered: Dr. Saphier
Fox News medical contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier offers insight after Johnson & Johnson joins the COVID-19 vaccine mix with Pfizer and Moderna.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday said President Biden's focus is making sure "every American" is vaccinated before discussing helping other nations with their COVID-19 vaccination process.
President Biden on Monday is set to have a virtual meeting with Mexican President Manuel López Obrador, who is reportedly is expected to ask about sharing U.S. COVID-19 vaccine supply with Mexico.
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When asked Monday whether the president would support that proposal, Psaki gave an emphatic "no."
"No," she said. "The president has made clear that he is focused on ensuring vaccines are accessible to every American. That is our focus."
Psaki said that the "next step" in working with neighboring nations like Mexico and Canada is discussing how "we can open our borders and build back better."
Nursing student Andrew Wong, right, vaccinates South Los Angeles resident Annie Carmichael with her first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to prevent the coronavirus at the MLK Community Medical Group clinic in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) ((AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes))
"But our focus, his focus, the administration’s focus, is making sure every American is vaccinated, and when we accomplish that objective, we're happy to discuss further steps beyond that," Psaki said.
Psaki's comments come amid the Biden administration's push to vaccinate 100 million Americans by the president’s 100th day in office — a goal officials on the White House coronavirus task force has said is realistic.
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On Monday, Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine began shipping in the U.S., marking the third shot in the country’s arsenal after a greenlight from the FDA and a panel with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Johnson & Johnson previously said its single-shot coronavirus vaccine showed 72% efficacy in preventing moderate-to-severe COVID-19 in the U.S, but fell to 66% in a larger trial conducted worldwide. The mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna had over 90% efficacy in clinical trials.
Last month, the Biden Administration secured another 200 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine — Pfizer and Moderna — saying that the additional doses will be used to inoculate some 300 million people by the end of July.
Overall, the additional 200 million doses will increase the country's vaccine supply by about 50% to 600 million total doses.
Meanwhile, the administration’s commitment to ensuring Americans are first vaccinated before sharing vaccine supply with other nations comes after former President Trump in December signed an executive order that ensured all Americans have access to the coronavirus vaccine before the U.S. government begins aiding nations around the world.
Trump administration officials, at the time, said the order was meant to reemphasize to the American people that the "the priority has been an America First approach."
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But the Biden administration, last month, as part of a virtual G-7 meeting, discussed a global response to the coronavirus pandemic, including coordination on vaccine production, distribution and supplies.
The administration last month also committed to providing an additional $2 billion to the vaccine alliance for Covax -- an alliance backed by the United Nations, which aims to deliver vaccines to the world's most vulnerable nations.
Fox News' Kayla Rivas contributed to this report.
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