Vaccine shortage made US diplomats seek help other countries

US diplomats serving in countries with poor medical infrastructure and high coronavirus infection rates are venting frustrations about the way top officials in Washington are distributing the vaccines for the virus, according to meeting notes, interviews, and documents obtained by The Washington Post.

The limited supply of doses of the vaccines has forced State Department leaders to make difficult and unenviable decisions and created humbling experiences for US diplomats representing the world’s wealthiest country.

Managing the shortage is an early challenge for Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has pledged to restore “morale and trust” at the department.

At least 13 foreign governments offered to inoculate US officials serving abroad with their own supplies of vaccines — a gesture the State Department has already accepted, said senior US officials. The department is evaluating offers from at least eight other countries that are willing to do the same.

In Russia, some State Department personnel appealed to Moscow for doses of its Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine after Washington could not promise the delivery of US-made vaccine doses in the near future, officials said.

“It’s embarrassing for the world’s richest country to require the charity of other nations when it comes to vaccines,” said one US diplomat posted to West Asia, “especially when you consider that the best vaccines were made in the US”

RHM/PR