OPINION | EDITORIAL: Save the world (sometimes from our own mistakes)

Sometimes, from our own mistakes

"They're starving back in China,

so finish what you got."

--John Lennon, circa 1980

Americans might fuss over President Biden's efforts to force the vaccine on much of the working world, but around the actual world, a lot of people haven't had a single dose yet. Entire nations have watched Uncle Sam beg its own citizens to get vaccinated--to no avail.

We are reminded of the old parental scolding: Finish what's on your plate. Other people in poor countries would love to have what you have.

According to printed dispatches, "President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer's covid-19 shots to share with the world 1 billion doses as he embraces the goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the global population within the next year. The stepped-up U.S. commitment marks the cornerstone of the global vaccination summit Biden convened virtually on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, where he encouraged well-off nations to do more to get the coronavirus under control."

It seems the president realizes this pandemic is dragging on longer than it should. And while part of that is because a sizable chunk of the American population shuns vaccinations, another chunk comprises other countries that can't afford the medicine.

Right now the dominant strain of covid-19 in America isn't even the original one. It's a souped-up version called the Delta variant. It's more infectious and fights harder against the vaccines that many decline to get.

The Delta variant came out of thin air, or at least out of India. Viruses evolve like almost everything else. They try to become more efficient at infecting hosts. And the longer covid-19 hangs around in human society, the more it'll mutate, causing these new strains. For a little bit there, Britain was struggling with a variant called Alpha. But Delta is winning the game now.

The worst-case scenario is covid-19 hangs around so long that it eventually mutates into a strain our vaccines are completely powerless against. That's why for months now, scientists have been saying nobody is safe until everybody is safe.

From the perspective of the world fight against the virus, it doesn't do a lot of good for the U.S. to be 70 percent vaccinated if there are still countries on this planet in which not even 3 percent of the population is vaccinated. Covid-19 will find those unvaccinated people, infect them, and might mutate before showing its ugly face here again with more infectious tendencies.

So it makes sense for America to spend some resources making sure poorer nations that can't afford to vaccinate their populations are able to. It's not just the kind thing to do; it's in this nation's self-interests as well.

For everyone angry at America over submarine deals or expulsion of immigrants at the border during a pandemic, we hope folks will remember the land of the free is doing its best to keep everyone else virus-free.

And so far, America is leading the charge when it comes to giving out vaccines across the world. Here's more from the papers:

"The U.S. purchase of another 500 million shots brings the total U.S. vaccination commitment to more than 1.1 billion doses through 2022. About 160 million shots supplied by the U.S. have already been distributed to more than 100 countries, representing more donations than the rest of the world combined. The remaining American doses will be distributed over the coming year."

A look at The New York Times map tracking covid-19 vaccinations around the world shows where the most doses have been given. America, Canada, western Europe, Australia, Red China, and parts of South America are doing pretty well.

But a cursory glance at Africa shows a startling picture. The only country doing well in doses there is Morocco, where more than 38 million doses have been given. That's 105 doses per 100 people. But the rest of Africa? Not quite as fortunate. It's the same for southern and western Asia.

Russia's vaccination rate isn't stellar, but that could be more because folks there don't exactly trust their government's vaccine. Who could blame them?

So when America begins deciding where its purchased doses need to go, it seems like there's a good-sized opening on the map. Get those doses to Africa on the double, especially if Uncle Sam's scientists decide younger folks don't need the doses for boosters here.

The United States can't be the only nation donating doses, either. Nations that have a satisfactory vaccination rate and plenty of resources should be following our lead when it comes to donating doses.

Conspiracy theorists can tweet angrily about a One World Government all they want, but the truth is getting rid of covid-19 is a team sport. It won't go away unless we all chip in.

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