The porter is sending the boxes of vaccines to Jumla (Nepal). Photo source: UNICEF The corona virus has spread to every continent, now infecting at least 128 million people worldwide. How widespread the epidemic was, devastating economies there. Many people in Africa, Asia and Latin America are waiting to be vaccinated. So far, nearly 600 million doses of the vaccine have been used around the world, but two-thirds of them are in just six countries. About 60% of Israelis have been vaccinated once, 50% of Britons have been vaccinated, and 1 out of 10 Germans get it. In Namibia, where a population of more than 2 million people, less than 1500 people are vaccinated. Aside from Namibia, no African country has received the vaccine. To prevent that, the COVAX project was born. WHO started COVAX a year ago, and the Vaccine Coalition (GAVI) and the Alliance for Epidemic Preparation Innovation (CEPI) are participating in nearly every country in the world. The goal is to have the 92 poorest members receive as many vaccines as the 98 richest members. It is expected that by the end of 2021, each country will receive the vaccine for 1/5 of the population. UNICEF wants vaccines to reach their destination, making them available to people regardless of race or wealth. So how can COVAX achieve its ambitious goals? Project 2 billion doses of vaccine to reach poor countries Mr. Benjamin Schreiber, COVAX Coordinator in Connecticut (USA) affirmed that the biggest challenge for countries is “preparing to vaccinate in a short time”. COVAX’s stated goal is to ship 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021, equivalent to 850 tons of vaccine / month and 1 billion syringes. Thousands of vaccine containers will reach the remotest corners of the earth by means of vehicles: Jeeps, boats, drones, and rickshaws. Countries receiving vaccine aid are diverse, some with developing economies, some with underdevelopment. Mr. Benjamin Schreiber, COVAX Coordinator in Connecticut (USA). Photo source: Katharina Poblotzki / Der Spiegel. Countries were required to send documents to UNICEF on how they plan to manage vaccine aid logistics: Which part of the population needs the vaccine most; Vaccine distribution plans from the airport to the rest of the country. On February 24, 2021, the first COVAX shipment landed in Ghana. By the end of March 2021, UNICEF had shipped 20 million doses of the vaccine to 47 countries. The strength of manufacturers The Indian Serum Institute (SII) is headquartered in Pune (West India), the world’s largest vaccine factory with 2.4 million doses of vaccine per day. SII is the creation of the vaccine that is being used to reach many parts of the world and its cost cannot be replicated right now. Of the more than 39 million doses of vaccine shipped by COVAX to date, 28 million have come from the Pune laboratories. India is a major supplier of COVAX. Currently, the country mainly produces vaccine AstraZeneca. But at the end of March 2021, the Indian government decided to stop the export of vaccines to a minimum when the number of new corona virus infections increased rapidly in this country. The New Delhi government’s decision to stockpile vaccines means COVAX will delay delivery of 90 million doses of vaccine to 63 receiving countries. There is currently no alternative manufacturing solution outside of India. The plane was carrying carton boxes containing COVID-19 vaccine at Mumbai airport in Maharashtra state (India) on 24 February 2021. Photo source: UNICEF / UN 0421823 / COVAX. Mr. Mounir Bouazar (head of the logistics division of COVAX in Copenhagen) has been preparing for 3-4 months for the first shipments of vaccines. By the end of 2020, Bouazar is certain that half a billion syringes will be distributed to four UNICEF warehouses in Copenhagen, Dubai, Panama and Shanghai. Now COVAX will deliver thousands of vaccines to their destination every day. But a pandemic makes it more difficult, with few or no flights due to limited travel. No flights to East Timor or the Pacific island nation have been requested by UNICEF. Vaccines and syringes moved to Yemen had to go to Nairobi, where Bouazar rented a small plane to carry vaccines and syringes. Bouazar hopes to ship more vaccines by mid-2021. There is an idea to make Bouazar’s work smoother right now: Suspend intellectual property rights to vaccines in a limited way during a pandemic. India and South Africa have filed requests to the World Trade Organization (WTO) to suspend the COVID-19 vaccine and drug patents, which are supported by 100 countries. Then other companies can also make vaccines. COVAX coordinator Benjamin Schreiber is deploying COVID-19 vaccine to the poorest and most isolated countries in the world. Connecting with him are 2 colleagues of UNICEF branches in Panama and Haiti – 2 countries with immunization delays. In Haiti, the vaccination team is ready, but problems are hampering vaccine shipments. Fuel in Haiti is quite expensive, roads are poor … Schreiber persistently connects with people in Haiti every day. Nguyen Thanh Hai ( (According to spiegel, April 24, 2021) )

F-35 fighter jets. Photo: AFP / VNA

After President Biden came to power in January, the US State Department asked to reconsider the deal passed under former US President Donald Trump. Previously, there was a lawsuit asking to block the deal on the grounds that the UAE was involved in a conflict in Yemen and supported General Khalifa Haftar’s forces in Libya. In this regard, the US State Department said it planned to conduct a candid and continuous dialogue with the UAE.

In the statement, the State Department spokesperson stated that the US administration intends to launch the sale of fighter jets to the UAE, along with reviewing the details, consulting UAE officials to ensure said the two sides to understand the UAE obligations before, during and after delivery. The handover deadline will be in the next few years.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks has expressed concern about the deal. According to this congressman, since the handover of the aircraft will not take place soon, the National Assembly will have plenty of time to evaluate whether to proceed with the deal, as well as whether to impose terms or arguments do not have any restrictions.

If the deal is enforced, the UAE will be the first Arab country to receive F-35 fighters, aircraft capable of gathering intelligence, attacking deep into the territory of the target and combat in the air. Under the plan, the UAE will receive 50 F-35s, equivalent to the fleet size of Israel.

Reuters on 14/4 said, a State Department spokesman revealed, the Biden administration has announced to Congress that they are promoting plans to sell more than 23 billion weapons to the Emirate United (UAE), including advanced F-35 fighter jets.

The US government will continue to promote the plan to sell weapons to the UAE, the spokesman said. “We are continuing to elaborate on the use of these weapons and have consulted with UAE officials.”

America’s state-of-the-art F-35 aircraft. Source: Sina.

According to reports, the plan to sell weapons to the Gulf nation was finalized before Mr. Trump left office. Before that, Mr. Biden suspended this plan to re-examine the agreement.

In the months leading up to the end of its term, the Trump administration approved numerous arms sales contracts worth tens of billions of dollars, including plans to sell 50 F-35 fighters to the UAE. .

The report mentions that some US lawmakers have criticized the UAE’s participation in the Yemen war, believing the Yemen conflict has become one of the most severe humanitarian disasters in the world. They fear that the arms sales may violate previous US commitments to secure Israel’s military superiority in the region.

In December 2020, the US Senate tried to prevent the US from selling F-35 fighter jets to the UAE, but ultimately failed due to differing stances between the parties. On January 20, 2021, just about an hour before Mr. Biden took office as US President, Mr. Trump quickly completed the sale of this large-scale weapon to the UAE.

However, at the end of January 2021, the Biden administration announced that it would re-evaluate the project, the UAE said it expected the results of the evaluation and welcomed the two sides to work together to alleviate tensions and re-start. phone area.

A spokesman for the US State Department on April 13 said that if the plan can be carried out on schedule, it is expected that weapons and equipment will be delivered to the UAE in 2025 or later.

It is known that the Trump administration wants to promote the plan to sell weapons to the UAE to help it deter potential threats from Iran. Trump’s real intention is to put Mr. Biden in a “difficult position” in the Middle East, because this plan will inevitably encounter a strong reaction from Israel, because the UAE’s F-35 will imbalance. balance of military power in the Middle East.

Along with that, Mr. Biden plans to return to nuclear negotiations with Iran, the fact that Mr. Trump pushed the plan to sell the F-35 to the UAE will make Tehran “angry” and difficult to accept again if the US do not cancel this plan.

However, the UAE side is showing little “interest” with the US F-35. Recently, the UAE has high expectations about the purchase of stealth fighter F-35 Lightning II, but due to strong opposition from Israel and the attitude of “considerations” of the US, Dubai has warned that it will change to buy Russian weapons if your requirements are not met.

Experts said that, if the Biden administration continues to “consider” this contract, it may bring the UAE back to negotiate with Moscow on the purchase of Russian fighters. Most likely buys 4.5 generation multi-purpose fighter Su-35.

“The UAE expressed extreme dissatisfaction with Washington’s actions and will most likely refuse to negotiate further with the US on the supply of these weapons due to Washington’s constantly changing position, buying a batch of Su. Russian -35 with the same large budget is quite obvious, even Su-57 fighter jets are considered, “the Russian press said.

It is still unclear exactly what the recent actions of US President Joe Biden are, since since after taking office, Mr. Biden’s policy in the Middle East can be said to be very fuzzy, and focused. into the Europe, Indo-Pacific region.

Some Russian experts believe that Biden’s move may be to prevent Russia from further strengthening its influence in the Middle East through arms exports to the region.

It is still too early to talk about the prospect of the UAE buying Russian weapons, as the US is still willing to impose sanctions under the CAATSA Act on the UAE, not to mention that they can offer upgraded versions. of the F-15 and the F-16 feature the Su-35 equivalent as an alternative.