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Transcript/ScriptUS Global Pandemic
HEADLINE: US Brings Plans, Hopes — but Not Cash — to COVID Summit
TEASER: US convenes 2nd global summit, even though Congress has not approved funding for a U.S. global response
PUBLISHED AT: Friday, 05/06/2022 at 00:01 EDT
BYLINE: Anita Powell and Patsy Widakuswara
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: The White House
VIDEOGRAPHER:
VIDEO EDITOR: Kimberlyn Weeks
SCRIPT EDITORS: Reifenrath, DJ, Jepsen
VIDEO SOURCES: AP, AFP, ZOOM (WITH LICENSE), SKYPE
PLATFORMS: WEB _x_ TV _X_ RADIO _x_
TRT: 2:10
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: Dr. Thierno Balde of WHO also has available comment IN FRENCH; video in Frame here: https://app.frame.io/projects/ae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58/4accebb2-57a4-49dd-ba76-9367e119bd08 ))
((INTRO:))
[[With the U.S. entering a new COVID-19 phase marked by more testing, prevention and treatment options, President Joe Biden will next week ((on Thursday)) convene another summit of global leaders to discuss next steps in the battle against the pandemic — but without the funding he says he needs to continue to fight it overseas. VOA’s White House correspondent Anita Powell and White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara report from Washington.]]
((Handout of free tests, AFP-V045_9V73T3; Paxlovid being made: AFP-V000_9RR8Z3; Biden getting his latest booster, AFP-V000_327B6J2))
((NARRATOR))
With COVID-19 tests, vaccines and therapies now widely available in the U.S., President Joe Biden has big hopes for the rest of the world as he hosts a second virtual COVID summit. The U.S. has pledged 1.2 billion vaccine doses for donation; 535 million of them have been delivered.
((Psaki walking in))
White House press secretary Jen Psaki says the summit is about more than vaccines.
((SOT, English, MRT, file here: https://app.frame.io/projects/107d8a33-963a-48f0-9001-585725df7d34/ea9c600f-3336-4a1e-8027-83bb1c180720))
((Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary))
“It’s about ensuring that we are providing — you know, expanding and protecting the health workforce, expanding the supply of oxygen facilities, enhancing access to
medical countermeasures. These are all steps that we hope to and plan to discuss there.”
((People being vaccinated around the world, AFP-V000_8Y98R9))
((NARRATOR))
The summit will also focus on getting shots into arms, enhancing access to tests and treatments, and financing pandemic preparedness.
The U.S. will ask rich countries to step up and increase pandemic funding. However, the U.S. itself will show up empty-handed.
((Recent scene on floor of Congress, AP-4378186))
Congress has yet to approve Biden’s request for $5 billion in global pandemic response funds.
[[Radio: Krishna Udayakumar of the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, via Skype]]
((SOT, English, Skype from 16:10 in track; in Frame))
((Krishna Udayakumar, Duke Global Health Innovation Center)) ((Skype))
“That's internal politics. Showing up on the world stage is still going to be a challenge without significant new commitments to show.”
((AFP of Covid scenes in Africa; Vaccine hub in SAfrica, AFP-V000_32374BG; Tedros visiting the facility: AFP-V000_9ZK9RF; South Africans getting vaccinated: AFP-V000_9W69PH))
((NARRATOR))
The summit is also a chance to share best practices. African nations, which have extensive experience with other transmissible diseases like HIV, tuberculosis and Ebola, have different public health challenges and strengths.
[[Radio track: Dr. Thierno Baldé, World Health Organization, via ZOOM]] [[his LinkedIn profile has the accent on the "e"--so I added it--Amy]]
((SOT, English, Zoom, from 5:17 in track, find here https://app.frame.io/projects/ae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58/4accebb2-57a4-49dd-ba76-9367e119bd08))
((Dr. Thierno Baldé, World Health Organization)) ((Zoom))
“We cannot have just one solution, you know, which might fit all of these different situations. So first of all, it's to listen, to understand. The reality is to try to understand that, and therefore, I mean, to have the most appropriate solution constructed, I mean, commonly, with different countries, with different partners.”
((California children getting vaccines: AP-4375925; a Chinese covid facility: AFP -V000_327Z4AH; Chileans getting boosters, afp-V000_9YN2LE))
((NARRATOR))
The first two years of the pandemic were marked by rich countries hoarding vaccines, threatening supplies to poorer countries. As the world moves past its crisis management phase, advocates say better coordination is needed to ensure equal access.
[[Radio: Tom Hart, president of the ONE Campaign, via Zoom]]
((SOT, English, Zoom, From 4:43 in track; vid here: https://app.frame.io/projects/ae30dd8f-b6c4-418a-b02d-530603115a58/4accebb2-57a4-49dd-ba76-9367e119bd08))
((Tom Hart, ONE Campaign President)) ((Zoom))
“Our deep fear, based on close knowledge of all the players in this country and others, is that that is not going to happen.”
((Shots of Covid in China, AFP-V045_32973PW and AFP-V000_327R9P7;
Shots in Ghana: AFP-V000_32927TE ; more scenes in Africa, AFP-V000_324B6KT))
((NARRATOR))
One thing is clear: From China to Africa and everywhere in between, this pandemic is not over.
Biden co-hosts the one-day virtual event with Belize, Germany, Indonesia and Senegal on May 12.
((Anita Powell and Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News, the White House))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Location (dateline)The White House
Embargo DateMay 5, 2022 19:30 EDT
Byline((Anita Powell and Patsy Widakuswara, VOA News, the White House))
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English