The United States is dedicated to the well-being of all people in the Western Hemisphere, including historically marginalized and vulnerable groups. As the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrates, health crises do not respect borders. That’s why the U.S. works with regional partners to strengthen public health infrastructure throughout the Americas.
At the ninth Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, the United States is committed to engaging with partner nations’ health systems across the hemisphere even as it continues to combat COVID-19 by bolstering health systems and donating over 68 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 30 countries across the Western Hemisphere so far.
In addition to vaccine donation, the United States is working with partners to:
- Increase manufacturing capacity, including through voluntary licensing.
- Improve information, data and sample sharing, including sequencing new variants.
- Promote transparent and responsible practices.
“We look forward to working together to defeat the pandemic in our hemisphere and around the world, and to make sure that we’re better prepared for the next pandemic because, unfortunately, there will almost certainly be one,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said October 19. “We have a lot of work to do as we get beyond COVID-19 to build a stronger global health system, and we’ll do that working together.”
Learn more about the summit here.
