Financial Times: Flagship U.S. medical academy backs E.U. efforts for global virus response
“The head of a flagship U.S. medical academy has turned to an old friend in Europe to help raise billions of dollars for the international fight against coronavirus, as the Trump administration takes a back seat in the global response to the pandemic. Victor Dzau, National Academy of Medicine president, appealed to Ursula von der Leyen, his European Commission counterpart, whom he first met at Stanford University in the 1990s, to boost global development and equitable distribution of fast and affordable testing, treatment, and vaccines for Covid-19. The effort by the senior U.S. medic — whose organization operates under congressional charter — was critical to the formation of a G20-endorsed fundraiser that is set to be hosted in Brussels on Monday, with the aim of raising an initial €7.5bn…” (Peel/Manson, 4/30).

France 24: Covid-19: How scientists are keeping politics out of the global race for a vaccine
“As the world races to combat the coronavirus, one nation is notably absent from multinational efforts: the United States. But scientists say that for now, the international research community is working together to do all it can. … On April 24, the World Health Organization (WHO) held a virtual conference to launch an international collaboration to accelerate the development and production of the health technologies necessary to do so. … Next Monday, May 4, the European Commission will respond to that call by hosting a global virtual conference to raise money from countries and business foundations to fund the development of tests, treatments and a vaccine for the coronavirus…” (El-Faizy, 4/29).

Roll Call: U.S., China absent from international vaccine effort
“…If the global race over the past few weeks and months to procure coronavirus-related medical equipment is anything to go by — the one that has seen national, state, and local governments, the private sector, and multilateral institutions compete with one another to outbid, scoop up, and hoard scant quantities of diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment, and ventilators — then the competition to acquire precious quantities of a new vaccine will be something the likes of which the world has never seen. Unnerved by that possibility, some European powers, including France and Germany, are now attempting to build a broad international coalition that will jointly finance, develop, and share in any vaccine. However, it is not clear how successful their efforts will be, absent buy-in from the United States and China, which are both using their considerable economic and scientific resources to go all-in on the hunt for a vaccine…” (Oswald, 4/29).