Azad Majumder
Former US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday insisted that his country would make COVID-19 vaccines available to the rest of the world once the mass vaccination was completed in their country.
“I can assure you when we reach the level of critical mass vaccination and we have a surplus, we will absolutely make the vaccines available (for rest of the world) in whatever the different way the President (Joe Biden) decides,” Kerry told reporters in Dhaka.
Biden set a goal of 100 million coronavirus vaccinations within 100 days of his office but his administration reached the target on the 59th day. The new US President now doubled his target of vaccinating 200 million people within the timeframe, according to the US media.
“By 100 days of his administration, there will be 200m plus vaccination. That means sometimes in a few months hopefully vaccine will be fully provided to Americans, but we still have vaccines being produced,” Kerry said.
US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate Kerry arrived in Dhaka on a short visit on Friday to hand over the US President Joe Biden’s invitation to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to attend the ‘Leaders’ Summit on Climate’ on April 22-23.
Speaking to a press conference at the State Guest House Padma after holding a meeting with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Kerry said countries should deal with both the COVID-19 pandemic and climate issue together.
“We hear some people in the world talking about their country first…not needing another country. Pandemic and climate crisis underscore we have to do this together, we have to work together, we have to depend on each other,” Kerry said.
During the press conference, Kerry reaffirmed his country’s commitment to dealing with climate change and promised to work together with all stakeholders over the issue.
“A country alone can’t solve the problem of the climate crisis and today no country doubt that there is a crisis,” Kerry said.
Before visiting Bangladesh, Kerry completed a four-day trip to India and would make a stopover in Abu Dhabi on his way back to the US to raise global climate ambition ahead of the 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in November in Glasgow.
“I am here not only because President Biden has called a summit of major economies of the world, but also to ask stakeholders nations, vulnerable nations to come and be heard in the early process in the lead up to Glasgow,” he said.
“We believe that the United States can make a difference in that regard and President Biden is determined to do right things,” he said.
Biden signed an executive order on the first day in office rejoining the US into the Paris Climate Accord after his predecessor Donald Trump backed away from it.
Kerry said that the US was ready to provide the necessary funding for the Paris accord.
“President Biden put in our budget two billion dollars that were missing because President Trump would not pay it, shut it down… we pledged three billion in Paris, we paid one quickly before we left,” he said.
During his brief visit to Bangladesh, Kerry met the PM and held meetings with Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, Environment Minister Shahab Uddin, Special Envoy of the Vulnerable Forum Presidency Abul Kalam Azad, Parliament Member Saber Hossain Chowdhury and other officials to discuss cooperation on climate change.
Foreign Minister Momen said that they informed the US Presidential Envoy of the range of programmes and initiatives that Bangladesh undertook to deal with climate change issue, including creating a climate trust fund, national energy roadmap, climate change action plan.
am/wi
