Biden announces strategy on sending 80m vaccines overseas

2 mins read

US President Joe Biden has laid down his country’s plan to impart some 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines overseas, allocating the first 25 million doses to nations in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

The US administration announced the sharing plan last May following the growing pressure from the global community.

The vaccines approved in the US will be sent to the identified continents by the end of this month.

“As the United States continues our efforts to get every eligible American vaccinated and fight Covid-19 here at home, we also recognize that ending this pandemic means ending it everywhere,” the president, through Thursday’s statement, said. “As long as this pandemic is raging anywhere in the world, the American people will still be vulnerable. And the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home.”

The first 25 million doses set to be delivered overseas will be composed of 19 million through vaccine-sharing effort, COVAX.

Latin America and the Caribbean will get 7 million doses, as well as South and Southeast Asia.

Some 5 million, on the other hand, will be sent to Africa.

Vaccines from the US will help lift the COVAX program which has so far imparted 76 million doses to nations.

The US partners like Mexico, South Korea, Canada, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, India, Haiti, Kosovo, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, meanwhile, will get the 6 million remaining vaccines. Front-line workers of the United Nations will also benefit from the said vaccine allocation.

“We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions,” Biden stressed. “We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values.”

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