In his statement on the 23rd of April, in support of the passage of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act passed by the Senate, President Joe Biden decried the rise of anti-Asian bigotry and hate crimes. He decried the fact that many have been killed, and many more have suffered from the lack of safety that this crisis has created. What he did not decry, however, is that this crisis is a direct result of years of U.S. foreign imperialism.

As of writing, over 190,000 innocent people in India have lost their lives to this terrible virus. Over 2,000 innocent fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters are dying each day as Narendra Modi’s hypernationalist regime fails to offer any semblance of support to its people. But, there is hope: vaccines have been proven effective against the COVID-19 virus, and the entire weight of the capitalist mass-production machine is being put behind manufacturing millions upon millions of doses of multiple different vaccines. Yet, once again, capitalism creates its own contradictions, and the United States as its imperial champion stands alone as the corpses of her own allies gather at her feet. Despite easily possessing the capabilities to manufacture and share vaccines with all those who are most at need, throughout the entire world, the Biden administration has instead elected to embark on a game of vaccine imperialism.

Amid the initial outbreak early last year, accusations were plentiful of the United States government actively participating in outright piracy, stealing much-needed PPE from anyone they could get it from. Now, with the secret to vaccine production unlocked, the Biden administration has begun hoarding. Not only is the United States government sitting on a stockpile of over 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine which it refuses to allow anyone — not even Americans — to receive, it is also actively hampering attempts by other nations, such as India, to create their own.

Despite Biden’s honeyed words at a strategic summit on March 12, that his administration would “expand safe, affordable, and effective vaccine production and equitable access” in India, he has continued to enforce an export ban, under the Defense Production Act, on the materials needed for vaccine production. In other words, the Biden administration is actively ensuring that over 2,000 innocent people die every single day in India alone. As hospitals across the country have begun ringing the alarm, oxygen supplies have run out, and the death toll reaches higher and higher, action must be taken.

The Communist Party, USA unequivocally and categorically condemns the Biden administration for its policy of vaccine imperialism, and demands an immediate end to the materials export ban currently in place under the Defense Production Act. The Communist Party stands with the workers of America and India.

We have nothing to lose but our chains.

Published on Solidnet, 4/26/21.
Image:  Alachua County (Public Domain).

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