WASHINGTON: The United States will share up to 60 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID vaccine with other countries, amid growing pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to support global vaccine equity.
In a statement, the White House said as many as 60 million vaccine doses could be available for export in the coming months. “Right now we have zero doses available of AstraZeneca,” said White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki.
He also noted that US regulators still need to review the quality of the vaccines already produced. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet authorised AstraZeneca’s vaccine for use in the US.
“The US’ decision to donate AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines is an important and welcomed step towards increasing equitable access worldwide,” Dr Carrie Teicher, director of programs at MSF-USA, said in a statement.
“The US must now transfer all of its surplus vaccine doses – not just those made by AstraZeneca – to COVAX and boost production globally so more vaccines can be manufactured in more places,” she added.
The announcement comes as the US is facing growing pressure to share its COVID-19 vaccines, especially with hard-hit nations such as India, as well as waive US intellectual property rules to allow more countries to manufacture jabs.
In an open letter earlier this month, a group of former world leaders and Nobel prize laureates urged Biden “to exercise solidarity, cooperation and renewed leadership” and waive the vaccine patents.
The US has administered over 230 million jabs of the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines so far, while nearly 54 percent of Americans over the age of 18 have received at least one jab.
