WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will announce Thursday at the G-7 meeting in Britain his plan to purchase 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to donate to other countries struggling with a limited supply, according to three people familiar with the plans.
Of the doses, 200 million will be donated this year and 300 million across the first half of next year. The doses will be distributed through COVAX — a humanitarian program run by the World Health Organization that aims to fairly distribute vaccines — and will be given to 92 low income countries as well as the African Union.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters traveling with the president Wednesday afternoon that Biden would use the G-7 summit to encourage other democratic allies to donate more vaccines to countries in need and that the G-7 would also make a joint announcement on their efforts to boost global vaccinations.
Sullivan said that contributing to global vaccine efforts was the “smart” thing for the U.S. to do because of the threat of Covid-19 variants and said that the emphasis on partnering with other democracies was aimed at demonstrating that democratic systems are equipped to “best deliver solutions for people everywhere.”
The Washington Post was first to report the announcement.
Biden, who has prioritized vaccinating people in the U.S. before offering doses to other countries, is facing increasing pressure to do more to help other countries as concerns rise that China’s and Russia’s strategy of selling or donating their vaccines to other nations allows them to expand their influence throughout the world.
The U.S. and other wealthy countries have been criticized for racing ahead in their vaccine rollouts as other, poorer countries struggle to obtain vaccines. Experts have warned that global vaccination inequality could prolong the pandemic for everyone if the coronavirus continues to mutate, which could make it more infectious and resistant to vaccines.
The Biden administration had previously announced that it would ship 80 million shots abroad by the end of June. The first shipments of those doses will be going out in the coming weeks.
When asked by reporters Wednesday morning before boarding Air Force One whether he planned to announce a new global vaccine strategy, Biden said, “I have one, and I’ll be announcing it.”
Peter Alexander contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
