The U.S. Successfully Delays Talks of a Global Pandemic Treaty
The United States and other countries opposed to the imminent penning of a pandemic treaty have succeeded in delaying discussion, with a World Health Organization draft text published today pushing any decisions to November.
The draft decision, which countries will discuss this week at the World Health Assembly, signals that Washington’s strong opposition ultimately won out after difficult discussions among member countries, aided in part by the reluctance among some other capitals that said they couldn’t discuss a treaty in the midst of the pandemic.
The U.S. opposition was already evidenced by Vice President Kamala Harris last week, when she said that that while the Biden administration understands the intent of a treaty, it “believes that we need to first strengthen our foundation.”
