WASHINGTON (CN) — On top of the 60 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine on track to be shared with the world this summer, the White House announced Monday it will add another 20 million to that global donation.
The Biden administration already promised last month to send 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses to countries around the world, but the additional 20 million doses announced for distribution on Monday will come from Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.
As cases of Covid-19 plummet in the U.S., the light at the end of the tunnel is finally flickering and the share of Americans who are vaccinated is climbing higher. This prompted President Joe Biden on Monday to emphasize that the U.S. is on track to extend its shot supply to the world.
“We, the United States, have secured enough supply for all eligible Americans 12 years old and older and we still have work to do though. Hard work. But because we have done so much here and the power of American companies’ research and manufacturing, we can continue to do more to help the rest of the world,” Biden said from the East Room of the White House.
The Food and Drug Administration must first complete its safety review of the AstraZeneca vaccine before shipping of those 60 million doses can be finalized. The 20 million doses from the other companies will go out after June 30, when the U.S. expects to have hit its goal of 70% of Americans at least partially vaccinated.
White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeffrey Zients has been tapped by Biden to serve as the point person for global dose distribution, working in coordination with the National Security Council.
It is unclear for now, however, which nations will receive doses first or exactly how the vaccines will be doled out.
With an expected total of 80 million doses sent abroad, the U.S. donation would be five times greater than the number of shots shared by other superpowers like Russia or China.
“There’s a lot of talk of Russia and China influencing the world with vaccines but we want to lead the world with our values,” Biden said.
The president said he will develop the global vaccine sharing strategy with U.S. allies at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom next month.
“It’s a unique moment in history and requires American leadership, but beating this pandemic globally is beyond the capacity of any one nation, even the U.S. But the U.S. will continue to donate its excess supply as that supply is delivered to us,” he said.
Over 157 million Americans have already received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, with 123 million Americans considered fully vaccinated. The goal set by the White House is to have at least 160 million people inoculated by the Fourth of July.
So far, the U.S. has sent about 4.5 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico.
“Our nation will be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world and we’ll share these vaccines to end the pandemic in the world everywhere," Biden said Monday. "We’re not using these vaccines to secure favors from other countries, we’re going to make sure that the vaccines are delivered in a way that is equitable and in line with the public health data."
Deaths in the U.S. are now at their lowest level since the pandemic first gripped America last year.
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