US plans to export 20 mn COVID-19 vaccines to help countries battle pandemic

The United States plans to send an additional 20 million doses of US COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, as well as AstraZeneca abroad by the end of June. A senior administration official said the measures are only a first step as the US pivots its attention to quelling the pandemic abroad.

Jen Psaki, White House Press Secretary, confirmed the announcement saying that the doses would go “to help countries battling the pandemic”. “We are waiting for, of course, AstraZeneca, as you know, to go through the approval process of the FDA, but this will put 80 million doses out into the world by the end of June,” Pskai said.

The Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for use in the United States, but AstraZeneca’s shot is not. It’s not revealed as to which countries would be receiving the US shipments. As per various reports, Mexico and Canada have already received doses of the US AstraZeneca stockpile, and Pfizer has begun shipping doses of its US-produced vaccine to countries including Mexico, Canada and Uruguay.

Global report point out that scores of low-income nations and even some developed countries are struggling to secure supplies of vaccines. Covax, a global program aimed at easing vaccine procurement and access for lower-income countries, is facing a supply shortage. Unicef, one of its partners on Monday, said it expects the shortfall to reach about 190 million doses next month. The Biden administration had previously announced a pledge of up to US$4 billion for Covax. The US President said he would only share US-purchased doses once there was enough supply to meet their domestic demand.

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It has to be noted that manufacturing errors at the Baltimore plant resulted in a contaminated batch of Johnson & Johnson’s shot and greatly slowed production of the vaccine. As such, the US has relied almost entirely on the Pfizer and Moderna shots. Biden has faced pressure to do more to help the world, as the US winds down nearly all mitigation measures such as masking and other countries try to quell fresh outbreaks and new variants with limited vaccine supply.