The US is considering creating a vaccine manufacturing center for Latin America

USA evaluates helping to create a vaccine manufacturing center to Latin America that allows to manufacture more doses in the continent, and wants to support a project that seeks to do the same in West Africa, indicated an official source.

These projects could be part of the infrastructure plan with which the United States wants to counteract China’s advance, which Washington plans to present probably next January and which will be called “Build back better for the world”.

A senior US official gave clues about the projects that the White House is studying to finance in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa and the Indo-Pacific within the framework of the initiative, which has the support of the G7.

“There are a series of projects in the field of solar, hydraulic and geothermal energy (that we could develop), and we have had many conversations both in Ecuador and in Colombia about the possibility of creating a vaccine manufacturing center for Latin America,” explained the official. .

The source, who requested anonymity, did not give details about how this possible manufacturing center would work, but explained that it was discussed during a Latin American tour that Daleep Singh, President Joe’s deputy national security adviser, did at the end of September. Biden.

Singh visited Colombia, Ecuador and Panama to hear the ideas of the leaders of those countries and begin to shape the White House plan; And last week, he also traveled to Senegal and Ghana to do the same in that African region.

“In each of the five countries that we have visited so far, we have come up with at least ten projects” that can be developed within the framework of the new initiative, said the aforementioned official.

That “does not mean that 50 projects will be launched in those five countries in January”, but the list will probably be shortened and the United States will launch its new initiative with “between five and ten projects that will serve as proof” of what it may mean. the initiative, added the source.

The Biden government has another tour related to the initiative planned for the end of the year in Asia, and also wants to schedule a trip to Central America, although there is no date for that yet, the official said.

The initial projects of the initiative will be formally decided during a meeting of the G7 in December, in which the United Kingdom will hand over the group’s presidency to Germany, the source added.

The future US plan is expected to mobilize capital from the private sector to drive projects in four areas: climate, health security, digital technology and gender equality.