COVID vaccines from America: Do Americans get priority?

Yes, because nothing helps America’s brand around the world more than entitled expats who think they deserve special treatment because they’re American. :roll_eyes:

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Nobody cares about a countries ‘brand’. That’s similar to when some foreigner does something stupid in some country and expats whine that he is a ruining their country’s ‘reputation’

Ultimately America should be responsible for its citizens health and welfare, anywhere in the world, especially during a global pandemic, when it is in its means to do so. They won’t, of course, but that doesn’t make it right.

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Are you an American? Have you even read your passport? Look inside:

  1. Health insurance. Medicare/Medicaid does not cover healthcare costs outside the U.S. Does your insurance apply overseas, including medical evacuation, payment to a hospital or doctor overseas, or reimbursement to you later? See our brochure “Medical Information for Americans Traveling Abroad,” or consult http://travel.state.gov/.

The US government is extremely limited in what it is legally able to do for Americans traveling abroad in terms of direct, active assistance. There are laws against the US government paying for expenses for citizens abroad (with reimbursement being required in the most extreme of emergencies where the US government has to make an expenditure), and the US has no legal authority to do whatever it wants for its citizens on the soil of other countries. Every traveler/expat should know this. It’s Travel 101.

Finally, in March 2020, the State Department told all Americans to either come home or be prepared to stay abroad for an indefinite amount of time.

People who decided to stay in TW throughout the pandemic have no legitimate right to ask the US to vaccinate them in TW just because there’s now an outbreak in TW and it’s inconvenient and expensive to travel back to the US. This isn’t even close to an emergency situation that would justify extreme action on the part of the US government.

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No personal attacks, please. Keep it civil

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Yep, you did. Ctrl+F the first time the word entitled was mentioned (by you) passive-aggressively calling me entitled for inquiring about an American surplus of vaccines being shipped to Taiwan (that you clearly missed the memo about happening, or you surely wouldn’t have said that - as you described being upset I didn’t get a personal jet flown over to my doorstep to me. That is, word-twisted from an American surplus being shipped 20m away from where I live in Taiwan; a reasonable inquiry imo).

I didn’t say TW was entitled to receive surplus vaccines. That statement would mean that I believed TW has a right to surplus American vaccine.

Language matters. It helps if people proofread what they write, and correct any errors. The other poster constructed a sentence improperly.

Came across a good article on this in The Atlantic. It makes a good case for the US being unique in taxing citizens abroad, so they should therefore share in their wealth of vaccines.

I think it’s especially important considering what vaccines America has surpluses of. While any vaccine is better than nothing, the importance of the brand name is starting to increase now that there are several ones around. We’re seeing places in America requiring certain vaccines for entry, or other countries requiring vaccines on a certain list to skip quarantine. With Taiwan’s precarious status as a country, I can imagine it will be a while before domestic vaccines make it on these lists if at all.

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Yea, good luck with that. America is not a country that listens to the will of their people, at least not anymore. I guarantee though if you get at least three billionaires to push this through it will happen in a New York minute. It is what it is…

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Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask, rather, what your country is going to do to you next.

Just renounce your US citizenship. I did already and it’s very liberating. I can open bank accounts without looking like a money launderer and filling out all kinds of forms when I want to do business in Taiwan.

Remember the term taxation without representation? Things are only going to get worse for expats. US taxes are headed back to 50% in a few years. Who wants to pay taxes to a country that they haven’t lived in for their whole life? You can’t claim back any of those medicare taxes you contribute towards if you retire outside the US.

LOL

Uhhh most Americans overseas don’t fall into this category.

Hah, maybe one day. It’s an expensive process and I’m not currently eligible for any other citizenships. For now I’m fine being American, I just wish I had something to show for it.

Rather, ask what your country has ever done for you.

Did you not get your US stimulus money?

just guessing out loud here, i was wondering if the US military was still in taiwan like in the early 70s (before 1979) US citizens might get vaccines at the then Embassy because there were almost daily MAC flights from Guam, etc to Taiwan.

But that was then and this is now.

I’m going to guess no, since this is something the US is declining to do on a global basis, not just in Taiwan. US citizens in SK don’t get vaccines either.

what did John Kennedy say?
“ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”

well the world has changed since the 70s. So what they may have done then may not be what they will do now

NZ as an alternative?

The US is a democracy, and democracy doesn’t always work. Ask the typical American resident whether the government should tax them $100 or some poor expat sob who never stepped into the country that same $100, and they’d always answer the same. They don’t care if you go broke from paying unfair taxes. For all they care, expats could pay 90% taxes if that meant a 5% decrease in their taxes. You have to keep your own best interests in mind. The law makers don’t care if their policies screw over foreign small businesses, as we’ve seen from all the tax laws passed three years ago by trump administration. It doesn’t affect the law makers.