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(CNN) —- The
United States will soon begin sharing millions of doses of AstraZeneca's covid-19 vaccine with other countries, an official told CNN on Monday.
The United States has tens of millions of AstraZeneca vaccines in stock, but none have been used because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet granted emergency use authorization.
As President Joe Biden's officials are now confident that the country has enough doses for its population, they will begin distributing them to other countries pending a safety review.
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Several world leaders have lobbied Biden to share the doses, as other countries have trouble increasing vaccination.
One such nation is India, which is currently experiencing one of the worst waves of COVID-19 in the world.
Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke by phone on Monday, but a copy of the call released by the White House did not mention the delivery of vaccines.
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The Associated Press was the first to report US plans to share the doses.
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Countries ask the US to send them vaccines
Countries have been insistently asking the United States to ship vaccines as doses are hoarded by wealthy nations.
Officials in the Biden administration confirmed almost daily phone calls with allies - rich and poor alike - seeking help in obtaining vaccine doses.
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The United States is estimated to have a vaccine surplus of hundreds of millions of doses.
Some of those have already been shipped to Mexico and Canada.
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But US "vaccine diplomacy" has been severely constrained by concerns from Biden officials that unforeseen factors may necessitate a dose reservation, such as reinforcements being needed after a while, the spread of variants and the still uncertain nature of which vaccine works best in children.
Political concerns also weigh on officials, who are wary of shipping doses abroad before all Americans can access them.
“We are studying what to do with some of the vaccines that we are not using.
We have to make sure they are safe to ship.
And we hope that we can give hope and be of use to countries around the world, ”Biden said earlier this month.
Other countries such as Russia and China - regimes where the political downsides of shipping vaccines abroad have little influence on decision-making by leaders - have far surpassed the United States in vaccine distribution, expanding their influence in places like Southeast Asia.
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AstraZeneca
