Noisy Protest Disrupts Governor's 1st Reelection Rally - By Susan Montoya Bryan And Morgan Lee Associated Press Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham revved up her
Demand rises for state s pandemic loans to small businesses
MORGAN LEE, Associated Press
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FILE - In this March 30, 2021 file photo, President Joe Biden speaks after signing the PPP Extension Act of 2021, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The government s key COVID-19 relief program for small businesses has run out of money. The Small Business Administration said Wednesday, May 5, that the Paycheck Protection Program has been exhausted. As of Sunday, the PPP had given out nearly 10.8 million loans worth more than $780 billion since April of last year.Evan Vucci/AP
SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) New Mexico state finance authorities have said that demand appears to be building for minimum-interest loans aimed at helping small businesses that lost income or experienced major disruptions during the coronavirus pandemic.
WASHINGTON â President Joe Biden plans to share COVID-19 vaccines with the world, including directing 75% of excess doses through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program.
The White House has previously stated its intent to share 80 million vaccine doses with the world by the end of June. The administration says 25% of doses will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the U.S. to share directly with allies and partners.
Of the first 25 million doses, the White House says about 19 million will go to COVAX. That includes about 6 million for South and Central America, 7 million for Asia, and 5 million for Africa. The doses boost the lagging COVAX effort, which so far has allocated just 76 million doses to needy countries.
The change is expected to ease global shortages of key vaccine materials for overseas companies and governments.
Officials say the government is dropping its use of the Defense Production Act to prioritize supply orders from AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sanofi. Those three companies have not yet won U.S. authorization for their COVID-19 shots, despite receiving funding from the federal government for development and manufacturing.
Administration officials say the U.S. now has enough vaccines to protect all Americans. President Joe Biden has faced increasing pressure to make more U.S. vaccines and supplies available to struggling countries. Biden offers international COVID-19 vaccine sharing plan