白宫2021 年 9 月 22 日
艾森豪威尔行政办公楼南院礼堂
 
哈里斯副总统：感谢卫生与公共服务部的罗伊丝·佩斯（Loyce Pace）主任。各位下午好。很荣幸今天能与大家在这次会议上相聚。
作为全球领导者，我们深知我们正在为共同的未来而奋战。今天的讨论不仅影响到我们的今天，还将影响到我们的未来。因此，我要感谢大家抽出时间参加这次重要的会议。
正如我多次提到的，我相信世界正在进入一个新的时代。这场全球性疫情是一个转折点，甚至可以说是一个引爆点。过去的19 个月揭示了许多系统性缺陷，也促成了我们共同应战的决心。
如果说我们以前尚不清楚，那么现在我们确知：我们的世界比以往任何时候都更加紧密关联，更加相互依存。因此，推动进步的唯一方式，也是最明智的方式，就是携手合作。
我们面前的任务是艰巨的。你们已经听到乔·拜登总统阐述我们为全世界接种疫苗所必须做出的努力——我们所有人都在为这一目标共同努力——这样我们才能终结这场疫情。
此外，我今天还想重点谈一下我们如何为下一次疫情做准备，因为事实是：结束这场疫情并为下一场大规模传染病做好准备是一项战略要务。它对于我们的安全和我们的共同繁荣至关重要，还将拯救无数的生命。
然而在此时此刻，我们必须承认，世界各国还没有为预防、发现和应对未来的生物威胁做好充分准备。
的确，我们正在加强医疗卫生系统并为医疗卫生工作者提供支持，这些重要行动有助于各国做好准备。
但在我看来，除非我们建立起一个新的融资机制，我们永远也无法做好充分的准备。
我从今年春天起一直呼吁建立这样一种机制。作为二十国集团的主席，意大利也提出了融资方面的需求。
在过去几个月里，各国已经共同召开会议，并审查了一些报告。我们听取了专家的意见，他们再次确认：尚没有足够的资金为应对未来的生物威胁做好充分准备。
朋友们，我坚信——我知道大家都清楚这是一个严峻的警讯，对我们所有的人敲响了警钟。
疾病监测、疫苗的开发与交付、为医护人员提供支持——各国都需要有更强的能力，而且现在就应当行动起来。
在这个新的时代，做好准备已经成为一种必要的常态。它需要在现存应急机制之外提供持续和可预测的资金。
我们需要采取行动，以便世界各国能够防患于未然，而不是在下一场大规模传染病爆发之后再做出反应。
这场疫情的爆发让我们措手不及，但本不应该如此。我们已经看到为疏于准备所付出的代价。每一个生命的逝去都使我们对这一代价的严重性加深了认识。那么，是采取行动的时候了。
因此，美国与其他国家一道，呼吁在世界银行设立一项新的金融中介基金（Financial Intermediary Fund），以帮助我们为大规模传染病预防工作汇集新的资源。
今天，我自豪地宣布，美国准备捐赠至少 2.5 亿美元来帮助启动这项基金，并且我们已经要求美国国会追加 8.5 亿美元。但需要再次强调的是，这是一项需要所有国家携手合作才能完成的工作。
我们向世界各国和各国的公司发出行动呼吁，请加入我们的行列。我们的共同目标是募集100 亿美元的初始资金。这个数目并非遥不可及，就全球 GDP 而言，它远远不及其百分之一。
我们邀请今天出席会议的国家帮助我们实现这一目标。正如有些人所言，这是一个雄心勃勃的目标，但我相信这也是一个可以实现的目标。我们认为，私营部门也承担着重要的责任，并能够发挥重要的作用。我们必须尽力而为。 
这一金融中介基金是建立更强大、更坚韧的医疗卫生系统的重要一步，并能够在未来挽救生命。但这只是其中的一步。
目前这场疫情暴露了我们系统和结构中的诸多缺陷。正如我曾多次说过的那样，该基金将有助于加强我们的应急能力。然而，为了避免以往的错误和适应今天的情况，我们还必须确保透明度和问责制，以确保所有国家都为增强全球医疗卫生系统履行其义务。
为此，美国还支持建立一个全球健康威胁委员会（Global Health Threats Council），该委员会将追踪进展并找出差距。这是我们必须采取的另一个步骤，以确保政治领导人继续致力于实现做好准备的目标。
我相信，数代人之后，当人们回顾这一时刻时，他们会看到，在这个新时代开始之际，全世界联合起来为实现更美好的未来而努力——所有国家都将有能力预防、发现和应对生物威胁，并平等地承担责任。在这个时刻，我们携手共建未来，让世界各国都拥有惠及全体人民的强大而坚韧的医疗卫生系统，在生物威胁爆发之前防患于未然。
这个未来是可能的。我坚信，只要我们共同努力，这个未来就能够从理想变为现实。再次感谢大家，让我们并肩前进。 
欲查看原稿内容:  https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2021/09/22/remarks-by-vice-president-harris-at-virtual-global-covid-19-summit/

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021
South Court Auditorium
Eisenhower Executive Office Building
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you to our Department of Health and Human Services Director, Loyce Pace.  And good afternoon to all of you.  It is truly an honor to be with you today.
As global leaders, each and every one of us has gathered here knowing that we are in a fight for our shared future.  And the discussions happening today will shape what our world looks like not only today, but tomorrow.  So, thank you to all of you for taking the time to join in this important meeting.
So, as I’ve said many times, I do believe that our world is embarking on a new era.  The global pandemic was a turning point and, indeed, a tipping point.  These past 19 months have revealed systemic flaws and reminded us of our collective resolve.
If we were not clear before, we know now: Our world is more interconnected, our world is more interdependent than ever before.  And therefore, the only way to move forward, the smartest way to move forward, is together.
The task before us now is great.  You have heard from President Joe Biden about what we must do to vaccinate our world — all of us working on that together — so that we can end this pandemic.
In addition, my focus today is to talk about what we must do to prepare for the next, because the truth is: The work to end this pandemic and prepare for the next is a strategic imperative.  It is essential to our security and to our shared prosperity, and it will save countless lives.
However, at this moment, we must also agree that our world is not fully prepared to prevent, to detect, and to respond to future biological threats.
Indeed, we are taking some important actions to ready nations by strengthening health systems and supporting health workers.
But unless we establish a new financing mechanism, in my view, we will never be fully prepared.
Since the spring, I’ve been calling for such a mechanism.  Italy too, as the President of the G20, has raised the need for financing.
And over the past months, our nations have met.  And we have reviewed the reports.  We have heard from the experts.  And they have confirmed yet again: There is not enough funding to adequately prepare for future biological threats.
Friends, I do believe — I know we know this is a stark warning, and it should be a wake-up call for all of us.
Disease surveillance, vaccine development, vaccine delivery, healthcare worker support — nations need greater capacity, and they need it now.
In this new era, preparedness is a necessity.  And it requires sustained and predictable funding that is on top of the emergency response mechanisms that already exist.
We need to act so that our world will be ready to respond before, and not after, the next pandemic emerges.
This pandemic caught us off guard, and it should not have.  We have learned the cost of failing to prepare.  With every death, we have learned all too much the seriousness of that cost.  And it is time, then, to act.
And so, the United States joins the call for a new Financial Intermediary Fund at the World Bank, which will help us bring together new resources for pandemic preparedness.
And today, I am proud to announce that we — the United States — are prepared to contribute at least $250 million to help get this fund started.  We have also requested an additional $850 million from the United States Congress.  But again, it’s going to take all of us to get this work done.
We are issuing a call to action to countries and corporations from around the world to join us in this effort.  And we have a collective goal of reaching $10 billion at the outset.  And let’s put this in context: That is a fraction of a percent of global GDP.
We invite the nations gathered here to help us meet this, as some would say, ambitious, but I believe achievable, goal.  We also see an important role and responsibility for the private sector.  Those who can must do everything we can. 
The Financial Intermediary Fund is an important step to build stronger, more resilient health systems, and ultimately to save lives.  But it is just one step.
The pandemic laid bare the flaws within our systems and structures.  As I’ve said many times, the fund will help address our capacity to prepare.  However, to avoid the mistakes of the past and meet this present moment, we must also ensure transparency and accountability to ensure that all countries meet our global health obligations.
To that end, the United States also supports a Global Health Threats Council that would monitor progress and identify gaps.  It is yet another step we must take to ensure that political leaders remain committed to the goal of preparedness.
Generations from now, I believe we will all be able to look back to this very moment, at the start of this new era, as the moment when our world joined together to realize a better future — a future in which all nations have equal capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to biological threats and are equally held to account; a moment when we join together to build a future in which all nations have strong and resilient health systems that all people can access; a future in which we can stop biological threats before they start. 
This future is possible.  If we work together, I do believe we can and we will make it possible.  Thank you all again, and let us go forth together.
END