Speeches Shim
COVID-19 is one of the greatest health challenges our world has ever faced. To beat the virus in the United States, we must also fight it abroad. USAID’s work to end the pandemic is keeping Americans safe, saving lives around the world, and rebuilding the U.S. and global economies.
We need to attack this virus globally, not just at home, because it’s in America’s self-interest to do so. The virus knows no boundaries. —President Joe Biden
USAID’s Global Response
COVID-19 knows no borders and no one is safe until everyone is safe. USAID is working around the clock to help save lives and end the pandemic for all. Since the beginning of the pandemic, USAID has supported more than 120 countries to contain and combat the virus. To date, USAID has provided more than $9 billion to intensify the fight against COVID-19 around the world, pave the way to global recovery, and strengthen global health security.
Only through collaboration can we collectively overcome COVID-19. —Administrator Samantha Power
USAID’s Programs
USAID is building on decades of global health leadership combating infectious diseases such as Ebola, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria to now fight COVID-19. USAID programs are helping deliver vaccines and get shots in arms, expand access to COVID-19 testing and treatment, protect and train health workers, deliver life-saving health commodities and equipment, share reliable public health information, and safeguard global health security. Yet USAID is not just fighting the disease—USAID is fighting to secure decades of development progress that the pandemic is unwinding. USAID programs are keeping kids in school, providing emergency food and hygiene assistance, helping people find work, preventing democratic backsliding, addressing gender-based violence, and tackling other devastating impacts of the pandemic.
USAID is committed to building back a better world, one that is better prepared to prevent, detect, and respond to future biological threats, and where all people can live safe, prosperous, and healthy lives. — USAID COVID-19 Task Force Director Jeremy Konyndyk
Resources
- USAID COVID-19 fact sheets
- USAID COVID-19 guidance for implementing partners
- American Rescue Plan
- U.S. Global Response and Recovery Framework
- COVID-19 Safety Plan & Workplace Guidelines (January, 2022)
- CDC COVID-19 information
- Get involved
The spread of COVID-19 has shown that an infectious disease threat anywhere can be a threat everywhere. USAID is dedicated to ending this pandemic for everyone, everywhere.
LATEST UPDATES
USAID Operating Status
Last updated: January 20, 2022
Today, at this critical inflection point, I’m pleased to announce that the U.S. is building on this work by introducing a new effort to get a shot in every arm: the Initiative for Global Vaccine Access. We’re going to spend an additional $400 million to double down on our efforts to help countries raise vaccination rates and save lives. This money will speed efforts both to get shots in arms and to support vaccine manufacturing in low-and-middle-income countries.
Nearly 200,000 additional Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine doses arrived in Sri Lanka today as a donation from the American people. This gift demonstrates the ongoing commitment of the United States to support Sri Lanka in the fight against COVID-19.
Today, Administrator Samantha Power met with Mr. Strive Masiyiwa, Chairman of Econet Global, Special Envoy to the African Union (AU) on COVID-19, and coordinator of the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. They were joined by Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and Dr. John Nkengasong, the Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and President Biden’s nominee for Ambassador-at-Large and Coordinator of U.S. Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS Globally.
As it is around the world, the COVID-19 situation in Latin America and the Caribbean remains dangerous. However, thanks to the generosity of the American people and the support of Congress, USAID has been able to help the countries of the region make real progress despite the unprecedented health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Even as we maintain our vigilance and continue to respond to the virus, we remain committed to helping countries adapt to new realities presented by the pandemic and shore up hard-won development gains. Ultimately, we seek to help the people of the region live in peace and prosperity and realize a more healthy, hopeful future.
Today, the United States delivered 117,000 out of 198,900 doses of the Pfizer vaccine to Tajikistan for the continued fight against the COVID-19 pandemic through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the COVAX facility. The remaining 81,900 doses will arrive this week. This latest donation adds to the 325,260 Pfizer doses delivered in September, and 1.5 million Moderna doses delivered in July 2021. In total, the U.S. government has donated more than two million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in Tajikistan.
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