by Julie Bouanna and Jennifer Mas Gilvydis

On this Global Day of Action for Vaccine Equity, and for the pandemic to truly end, we need more global access to the COVID-19 vaccine. It is our best chance at ending the COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed 6 million people, though some estimates put the number closer to 20 million worldwide. Vaccinations protect against the formation of new and possibly more lethal variants. President Biden has committed to vaccinating 70% of the world’s population by this fall; yet, as of today, the White House still has no plan in place to ensure sufficient manufacturing of COVID-19 technologies, including vaccines, to ensure global access needed to end the pandemic.