Congressman Krishnamoorthi Welcomes COVID-19 Vaccine Access Funding He Helped Secure In The Build Back Better Act While Calling For Additional Action
“I was proud to help secure this funding to build on our global vaccine aid programs, but this is just one step forward as we must greatly expand our efforts to end this pandemic”
WASHINGTON – Today, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi issued the following statement in response to the release of the draft Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376), which includes $1.3 billion to increase the global COVID-19 vaccine supply.
"While lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines are readily available here in America, COVID-19 continues spread unabated across much of the world. It is absolutely crucial for global health and for our own pandemic recovery that we increase the global vaccine supply and ensure low-income countries have access to these miraculous vaccines," said Congressman Krishnamoorthi. "I was proud to help secure this funding to build on our global vaccine aid programs, but this is just one step forward as we must greatly expand our efforts to end this pandemic by vaccinating the nearly 4 billion people who have not even received a single vaccine dose."
The Build Back Better Act allocates $1.3 billion to support global and domestic vaccine production capacity and capabilities, including through the construction of new manufacturing facilities or the expansion or modernization of existing facilities. This funding can also be used to address supply chain issues pertaining to the manufacturing of COVID-19 vaccines.
Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is one of the leading voices in Congress calling to expand the global access to COVID-19 vaccines. On June 8th, Congressman Krishnamoorthi introduced the NOVID Act, a detailed blueprint to invest $34 billion in global vaccine manufacturing and distribution to reach herd immunity in all 92 COVAX countries, with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-WA). On August 4th, the above Members and Representative Malinowski penned a letter to President Biden, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer with 116 Members of Congress requesting the NOVID Act provisions be included in any reconciliation package. On August 10th, 175 public health experts separately wrote to the President demanding that he act immediately to invest in global vaccination.