US President Joe Biden said on Monday that his country would send at least 20 million additional doses of Kovid-19 vaccines to endangered countries by the end of June. 80 million – the total planned number – would be the largest donation ever.
“These are the vaccines that have been authorized to be administered in the arm of Americans and by the end of June, we will distribute enough vaccines to protect the entire population of the United States. The United States has at least 20 million of them. Shared dose (…), means that the United States will send 80 million doses abroad in the next six weeks, ”said US President Joe Biden.
According to American station ABC, the first 60 million doses will all be from AstraZeneca and produced in the United States. The remaining 20 million will be from various pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna, Jensen and Pfizer’s formulations.
The US president, who did not specify which countries would be on the other side of the donation, was also keen to ensure that, with this donation, the country would donate more vaccines than its geopolitical rivals, Russia and China . This “five times” is also expected to be the largest vaccine donation ever.
But the North American gesture may be part of a larger initiative. In the same statement, Joe Biden explained that “In the coming weeks, together with the world’s democracies, we will coordinate a multilateral effort to end the epidemic. I found progress in this area during the G7 summit in the United Kingdom Expected to announce. June on which I intend to appear “.
The initiative may take some time to take effect and is dependent on the cooperation of other countries, but the US president believes the investment is beneficial and will leave the world with “the ability to prepare for the next crisis”. [epidemiológica]”.
Covax has fewer vaccines
The American gesture could not come at a better time due to the lack of vaccines affecting Kovacs, the international vaccine solidarity and distribution organization that is providing supplements to least-preferred countries.
Due to the wave of sharp epidemics in India since March, the country – which is the largest exporter of vaccines in the world – has been forced to suspend exports and since then, it has fulfilled all the commitments made to WHO I failed.
In total, Covax is already missing 140 million doses, according to the LUSA Agency. The deficit is expected to reach 190 million by June.
UNICEF, which has also contributed to Kovacs, has meanwhile called on G7 and European Union countries to increase their donations.
According to the organization’s estimates, these countries will together be able to donate about 150 million doses without compromising their own vaccination efforts.
By now this body would have delivered 65 million doses to 124 countries.