Pressure is mounting on the State Department to speed up the export of Covid vaccines abroad, 1200 WOAI news reports.
Texas Congressman Mike McCaul argues that, the longer we wait to help out countries like India, the more we are ceding ground to China and Russia.
"We don't want the Chinese and their vaccine diplomacy to win out in areas where we would like to keep our allies our allies."
The ranking member of House Foreign Affairs tells WOAI's Michael Board that cases in India doubled in the last month. It's overwhelming the nation's health care system. He says they supported the United States last year, giving us protective gear, when the Chinese were hoarding them.
"It pays dividends in the future, in terms of winning the hearts and minds of these countries," he explains
The move has bipartisan support. Dr Anthony Fauci recently came out in support of sending vaccines abroad through COVAX, which is a global effort to expand vaccine access. But Senior Biden Administration officials tell Politico that the U.S. could be doing more to distribute AstraZeneca doses the country does not need.
There are reports that White House is poised to announce where the U.S. will send those doses, along with critical medical supplies needed to treat Covid-19.
The U.S. has previously shipped millions of the AstraZeneca doses to Mexico and Canada.
McCaul says if we don't help India now, we will lose clout with an strategic ally in the region
"The Chinese will come in and give it for free. It's not nearly as effective and it's also their way to win over some of these countries."