US pledges $580m to international COVID fight amid Omicron spread
Al JazeeraThe announcement comes as the Biden administration released a raft of measures aimed at ramping up domestic response. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made the announcement on Tuesday, shortly before he said he is set to meet his counterparts from other countries to discuss global cooperation in responding to Omicron, which officials say has already become the dominant strain of the virus in the US. “The world is at a critical point in our global response to this virus.” The additional funding will go to several United Nations bodies that deal directly with responding to the pandemic, including the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund, and the Pan American Health Organization. “We must work together, and we must act quickly.” 500 million tests On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden, who is set to give an address on the government’s response to the Omicron surge later in the day, released a raft of domestic measures. On Monday, White House spokesman Jen Psaki said Biden’s upcoming speech will highlight the government’s strategy based on getting more people to get vaccinated and get booster shots.