Washington: The United States on Friday will send 500,000 doses of modern vaccines to Bhutan and 1.5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for Nepal, a White House official said.
Delivery is part of the promise of Biden Administration to share the initial batch of 80 million US-made vaccines globally amid fears of differences in vaccination distances between developed and developing countries.
Last week, the Biden government announced plans to send 1 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer / Biontech to Malaysia and 4 million doses of modern Indonesian vaccines.
The United States has competed with China to deepen its geographical influence through what is called a diplomatic vaccine but confirms it does not share a vaccine to secure a favors or extract concessions, but to save lives and end the pandemic.
The United States has announced plans to provide vaccines to other countries in Asia, including the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia.
In addition to the dose of 80 million, Washington said he would buy 500 million PFIZER / BONONECH vaccines to distribute to the African Union and 92 countries of the lower middle income.
A White House official said the scientific team and legal authority and regulations have worked together to ensure the delivery of a safe and effective vaccine lots to Bhutan and Nepal.
“We lead the world in a global vaccine strategy because it is the right thing to do,” the official said.
“It’s a morally true thing, the right thing from the health perspective of the global public, and the right to our collective security and welfare.” The head of the International Monetary Fund of Georgieva on Wednesday urged the United States, China and another group of major economies, whose financial officials met in Venice this weekend, to accelerate access to vaccines.
He warned about the recovery of two deteriorating tracks that threatened to leave developing countries left behind far behind.
Providing faster access to vaccinations has the potential to save more than half a million people in the next six months, he said.