In this context, he pointed to the multilateral COVAX initiative that aims to provide 20% of the world’s population with affordable vaccines and lauded the role of the EU in launching and financing it - about a quarter of its almost €3bn in funding comes from the EU and its member states. He pointed out that alongside the U.S., Europe is the largest producer of vaccines globally and has a technological edge in mRNA vaccines that can be adapted flexibly to future virus mutations. He criticized Chinese and Russian initiatives as “highly limited but widely publicized” operations of “regimes with less desirable values than ours.” Rather than “lagging behind in a sprint,” Europe ”is well placed to lead the field in a marathon,” he argued. In a strongly worded statement the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, sought to regain the initiative on March 9. This has drawn the ire of a beleaguered European Union, whose self-professed goal is to become a more geopolitical union even while its domestic vaccination effort lags behind the U.S. China and Russia have sought to enhance their influence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region with a number of high-profile vaccine deals. In a world where COVID-19 has been taking a terrifying human and financial toll, vaccine supplies promise relief and interact with pre-existing politics and foreign policy priorities. Vaccine diplomacy, or the use of vaccine supplies as a tool of soft power projection, has entered the political dictionary.
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