U.S. to send 500 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine to about 100 countries

DORAL, FL – Biden administration will send 500 million doses of Pfizer’s vaccine against the coronavirus to about 100 countries.

The first 200 million doses will be sent this year, while 300 million will be distributed in the first half of next year.

All of them are to arrive in low and middle-income countries and it is expected that at least 80 million reach those countries by the end of June with roughly 6 million shots of Pfizer’s vaccine to be shared with nations experiencing severe coronavirus outbreaks such as India. 

The doses will be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to share doses around the world, and the entity will sell them to the U.S. at a “not-for-profit” price, reports the Washington Post. 

The decision came amid requests for the United States and other rich countries to help less favored countries in their fight against the coronavirus. Now, the Biden administration will announce its plan for this to happen at the Group of Seven meeting to be celebrated in Britain this week. 

It is expected that the massive distribution of COVID-19 shots help close the gap between developed and non-developed countries. For example, more than half the populations in the United States and Britain have had at least one dose, compared with fewer than 2 percent of people in Africa.

Taking this into consideration, Covax plans to deliver 2 billion doses by the end of the year and to vaccinate 20 percent of the populations of countries in need. Up until now, Covax has delivered 81 million doses to 129 countries.

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