WASHINGTON: The United States will ship the first batch of 500 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to 92 countries from the month of August, the White House announced on Thursday.
“Today, President Biden will announce that the United States will purchase and donate half a billion Pfizer vaccines to 92 low- and lower-middle-income countries and the African Union, a historic action that will help supercharge the global fight against the pandemic,” the White House said in a statement.
“The vaccines will start shipping in August 2021.
200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year and the remaining 300 million will be delivered in the first half of 2022,” it added.
This announcement comes in the backdrop of Biden’s donation of at least 80 million vaccines from the United States’ supply by the end of June.
The statement released on Thursday morning termed this latest pledge as the largest-ever purchase and donation of vaccines by a single country and a commitment by the American people to help protect people around the world from COVID-19.
The White House also said Biden will also call on the world’s democracies to do their parts in contributing to the global supply of safe and effective vaccines.
The Biden administration has already announced the allocation of the first tranche of 25 million COVID-19 vaccines globally including India.
Seven million of doses will be sent to several Asian countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
As many as 75 per cent of vaccine share will be given through COVAX while 25 per cent share for immediate needs and to help with surges around the world.
Nearly 19 million will be shared through the COVAX initiative.
Approximately 6 million for South and Central America to the following countries: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, as well as the Dominican Republic.