Biden pledges to send millions of vaccines overseas by end-June

WASHINGTON • US President Joe Biden said the country will share at least 20 million doses of its authorised Covid-19 vaccines with foreign nations by the end of June, the first time his administration will release doses abroad that could have been used at home.

Mr Biden said on Monday that Washington will export 20 million doses of vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson, on top of 60 million AstraZeneca doses he had already planned to give to other countries.

The AstraZeneca vaccine lacks Food and Drug Administration approval for US use.

"It's the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do, it's the strong thing to do," Mr Biden said at the White House.

By the end of June, he added, the US will have taken delivery of enough doses of the authorised vaccines to inoculate its entire population age 12 and older.

Mr Biden's move is a watershed moment that signals the United States is turning a corner, with vaccine supply now sufficiently out-pacing demand.

He said he would work with international agencies to decide which nations got the doses, and that he would not use the shots for diplomatic leverage, accusing China and Russia of doing so.

"Our nation is going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world. We'll share these vaccines in the service of ending the pandemic everywhere and we will not use our vaccines to secure favours from other countries," he said.

He also said that he would work with other democracies to "coordinate a multilateral effort to end this pandemic" and that he expects to "announce progress in this area at the G-7 summit in the United Kingdom in June".

He is putting Mr Jeff Zients, who has served as the White House coronavirus response coordinator, in charge of his effort to beat back the pandemic globally. Mr Zients will work with the National Security Council and other agencies to steer doses abroad.

The US on Sunday recorded the fewest number of new cases since March last year, and most of the country has begun to relax masking and social distancing requirements.

However, Mr Biden also cautioned Americans to remain vigilant and get their shots. "We're still losing too many Americans and we still have too many unvaccinated people in America," he said.

He said the latest data would show that the US has now given 60 per cent of its adults at least one shot of the vaccine. The goal is to hit 70 per cent by July 4.

BLOOMBERG