Kamala Harris warns the world must begin preparing for the NEXT pandemic and will tell the UN to invest in vaccines, PPE and women's health to avoid a future disaster
Vice President Kamala Harris will tell the United Nations that the world needs to start preparing for the next global pandemic even as COVID-19 rages on.
Harris' virtual appearance at the UN on Monday - her second since becoming vice president - will offer ideas on how nations can better prepare themselves for the next global health crisis.
Harris, according to the excerpts, will broadly outline how the administration thinks nations should consider focusing their attention including women's health and investing in vaccines, personal protective equipment and test manufacturing.
Testing has been vital to identify COVID suffers, and try to isolate them to stop the disease spreading further. #
PPE and vaccines are both seen as vital with helping prevent transmission, with vaccines also helping people suffer far less serious symptoms if they do still catch the virus.
Harris, whose mom was an Indian-born scientists, also weighed in on the massive coronavirus crisis in India on Sunday – where a second surge has killed nearly 3,000 people in 24 hours.
'The U.S. is working closely with the Indian government to rapidly deploy additional support and supplies during an alarming COVID-19 outbreak,' Harris tweeted on Sunday.
'As we provide assistance, we pray for the people of India—including its courageous healthcare workers.'
Vice President Kamala Harris will tell the United Nations that global leaders should immediately start planning how to respond to the next global pandemic
Harris, the first-ever person of Indian descent to serve as vice president, also weighed in on the massive coronavirus crisis in India on Sunday
A chart shows the total number of COVID-19 cases and deaths globally
In her speech on Monday, Harris will say: 'At the same time that the world works to get through this pandemic, we also know that we must prepare for the next.'
The speech will be co-hosted by UN permanent representatives of Argentina, Japan, Norway and South Africa. Biden's ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, is also scheduled to deliver remarks at Monday's virtual event.
Harris says much has been learned over the last year about pandemic preparedness and response but that it would be unwise to rest easy.
'We have been reminded that the status quo is not nearly good enough, and that innovation is indeed the path forward,' Harris says.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan held a call with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval on Sunday expressing 'deep sympathy for the people of India following the recent spike in COVID-19 cases.'
'The two National Security Advisors agreed that the U.S. and India would stay in close touch in coming days,' National Security Council Spokesperson Emily Horne said in a statement regarding the call.
'Mr. Sullivan affirmed America's solidarity with India, the two countries with the greatest number of COVID-19 cases in the world,' she continued.
Horne said Sullivan affirmed the U.S. would deploy any 'available resources and supplies' to India to help with the spike.
A statement from the White House on the call reads: 'Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need.'
'To this end, the United States is working around the clock to deploy available resources and supplies. The United States has identified sources of specific raw material urgently required for Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine that will immediately be made available for India.'
The statement added that the United States has helped India identify supplies of COVID-19 therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and PPE to help treat 'and protect front-line health workers in India.'
'The United States also is pursuing options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis,' the statement reads,
The Biden administration will mark its first 100 days in office this week.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to address Congress on Wednesday and is certain to highlight the headway his administration has made in responding to the worst public health crisis in the US in more than a century.
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