President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that his administration will
share with various countries around the world 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccines
developed by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
The donation is in addition to 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that Biden, last April, promised to deliver to other nations, once the green light is obtained from federal health authorities, which is also estimated to be in six weeks.
"We know that the United States will never be totally safe while the pandemic is under control throughout the planet," said the president this Thursday from the White House.
[The United States will share 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 with other countries that need it]
This is the first donation of COVID-19 vaccines approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for home use.
Biden, who
has not yet indicated which countries will receive the surplus coronavirus vaccine,
highlighted the work of Jeff Zients, coordinator of the response against COVID-19 at the White House, for his efforts to convert the country in an "arsenal of vaccines" for the rest of the planet.
Biden also commented that the number of infections has decreased in all 50 states for the first time since the pandemic began.
President Joe Biden, accompanied by Vice President Kamala Harris, announced this May 17, 2021, that he will share 20 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine with other countries.
AP / AP
According to a report by the Duke Center for Global Health Innovation published last month, vaccination figures for developed countries are far from the reality of dozens of developing countries, such as India, Brazil or Venezuela.
[United States plans to ship 2.5 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Mexico]
To date, 60% of the population in the United States (157 million people) have already received at least one injection and about 123 million are fully vaccinated.
According to the World Health Organization, 87% of vaccines have been administered in high- and middle-income countries, while
impoverished nations have received only 0.2%.
Worldwide, more than 3.3 million people have died from the coronavirus.
The United States has been hit hardest by deaths from COVID-19, with more than 586,000 deaths.
With information from AP
