美國白宮疫情應(yīng)對協(xié)調(diào)員杰弗里·齊恩茨(Jeffrey Zients)日前在疫情簡報會上承認(rèn)，美國無法完成拜登總統(tǒng)5月初宣布的在7月4日前讓70%的美國成年人接種至少1劑新冠疫苗的目標(biāo)。
美國不僅對內(nèi)接種目標(biāo)無法如期完成，拜登政府在6月底前向海外提供8000萬劑疫苗援助的計劃也面臨延遲。白宮21日公布剩余5500萬劑疫苗的分配計劃，不過，白宮同時表示，由于疫苗援助需要克服儲存、運(yùn)輸及語言障礙等多方面挑戰(zhàn)，現(xiàn)在不能保證剩余的5500萬劑疫苗能夠在月底前發(fā)貨。
據(jù)約翰斯·霍普金斯大學(xué)數(shù)據(jù)顯示，截至27日，全球累計新冠確診病例超過1.81億例，美國累計確診3362萬例。在美國國內(nèi)疫情沒有得到有效控制，全球疫情形勢仍然嚴(yán)峻的今天，疫苗是對抗新冠病毒的最有力武器，理應(yīng)及時分配。然而，擁有充足疫苗儲備的美國卻患上嚴(yán)重的“拖延癥”，遲遲無法完成自己許下的承諾。
對內(nèi)，美國將無法完成國內(nèi)疫苗接種目標(biāo)的“鍋”甩給年輕人，聲稱“美國年輕人認(rèn)為新冠病毒對他們的影響較小，因此接種意愿不強(qiáng)�！笔獠恢�，他們所謂的“接種意愿不強(qiáng)”，很大程度上是由于美國政府疫情初期就未給予新冠病毒足夠的重視。時任美國總統(tǒng)特朗普甚至曾將新冠稱為“大號流感”，誤導(dǎo)了許多民眾。沒有重視就沒有緊迫感。正是因為美國政府一年多來對新冠疫情的不重視，才導(dǎo)致了美國民眾接種目標(biāo)的“拖延”。
而在對外援助上，盡管拜登早就宣布將于6月底前與其他國家分享8000萬劑疫苗，卻在距離截止日期僅剩一周多的時間才公布詳細(xì)的分配計劃。誠然，疫苗援助需面對美國政府所聲稱的儲存、運(yùn)輸及語言障礙等多種難題，但如果有一個切實可行的計劃，這些問題并不會影響援助疫苗的“發(fā)貨時間”。
作為大國政府，美國應(yīng)該在設(shè)立目標(biāo)之初就制定出相應(yīng)的計劃，更應(yīng)未雨綢繆，提前考慮各種困難因素，而不是等到目標(biāo)無法完成時推卸責(zé)任，顧左右而言他�！懊绹贻p人接種意愿不高”、“疫苗儲存、運(yùn)輸難度高”等一系列所謂的“困難”是美國政府和白宮智囊團(tuán)隊所無法預(yù)見的嗎？顯然不是。正確普及防疫知識，就能相應(yīng)地提高民眾接種疫苗的積極性；提前制定并實施疫苗援助計劃，就能及時 “發(fā)貨”；至于語言障礙問題，更不可能對疫苗援助帶來如此之大的影響……由此看來，美國政府的目標(biāo)無法完成，不是因為他們不能，而是因為他們不想，“拖延”主要還是態(tài)度的問題。美國政府在疫苗接種和援助上的“拖延癥”讓人不禁懷疑，他們此前給出的所謂目標(biāo)和承諾，究竟是根據(jù)實際情況所制定下來的可行目標(biāo)，還是打腫臉充胖子的“政治作秀”？
面對病毒的蔓延和病例的增長，美國政府與其忙著制定不切實際的目標(biāo)，以及為自己的“拖延癥”尋找借口，不如踏踏實實地向美國民眾普及疫情的嚴(yán)重性和接種疫苗的必要性，早日將所儲存的每一劑疫苗分配到真正需要它們的人手中。
Is U.S. government COVID-19 'procrastination' getting worse?
By John Lee
(ECNS) -- The United States will likely fall short of President Joe Biden’s goal of partially vaccinating 70 percent of American adults by Independence Day, said Jeffrey Zients, head of the White House COVID-19 response team, on June 22.
In addition to the delayed domestic vaccination goals, the U.S. government will also put off its plan to provide 80 million doses of vaccine assistance overseas set by the end of June as the White House announced on June 21 there was no guarantee the scheduled 55 million doses would be delivered by the end of this month due to "storage, transportation and language barriers."
As of June 27, more than 181 million COVID-19 cases were confirmed worldwide, and the figure in the U.S. has topped 33,620,000, according to Johns Hopkins University. Under current conditions, vaccines are still the most powerful weapon against COVID-19 and should be allocated in time. However, the U.S., which has sufficient vaccine reserves, suffers from serious procrastination and seems unable to fulfill its promises.
The U.S. government is blaming young Americans for failing to meet domestic vaccination targets, claiming they think COVID-19 has little impact and therefore, are less willing to get vaccinated. However, their so-called "less willing" is largely due to the fact that the U.S. government did not pay enough attention to the virus in the early stages of the epidemic. Former U.S. President Donald Trump even referred to the coronavirus as the "corona flu", which misled many Americans and caused the delay of vaccination goals.
In terms of global vaccine assistance, although Biden had announced his administration would share 80 million doses of vaccines with other countries before the end of June, he just released a detailed distribution plan about one week before the deadline for implementation. It's true that vaccine assistance faces storage, transportation and language barrier difficulties, but if there is a practical plan, these issues would not delay delivery.
As a major power in the world, the U.S. should have formulated a corresponding plan in the beginning and taken all kinds of factors into consideration in advance, instead of passing the buck when its goals cannot be achieved. The U.S. government and White House think tank should have foreseen the so-called "difficulties" mentioned above.
Correct popularization of epidemic prevention knowledge can help boost vaccination among the youth. Developing and implementing a vaccine assistance plan in advance can help ensure in-time delivery. As for language barriers, it is unlikely to have a significant impact on vaccine distribution. To sum up, the U.S. government's goals cannot be achieved, not because it cannot, but because it does not want to, with such "procrastination" a matter of attitude.
Amid U.S. "procrastination" in vaccination and global assistance, people can't help wonder whether the so-called goals and promises given by the U.S. government are feasible, and whether it is based on actual conditions or just a "political show".
In the face of a spreading virus and increasing cases, it is better for the U.S. government to popularize epidemic prevention knowledge and vaccinate the American people than find an excuse for "procrastination". The most important thing for the U.S. now is to distribute every dose of vaccine to those who really need them as soon as possible.
