US to purchase 500 mn Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine jabs to share globally through COVAX program

The United States is set to buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine that it will share through the global COVAX alliance for donation to 92 lower-income countries and the African Union over the next year. US President Joe Biden was set to make the announcement on Thursday in a speech ahead of the Group of Seven summit. A person familiar with the decision stated that two hundred million doses expected to fully protect 100 million people would be shared this year, with the balance to be donated in the first half of 2022, the person said.

US to buy 500M Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan informed that Biden was committed to sharing vaccines because it was in the public health and strategic interests of the US. Biden, who is set for his first foreign trip since taking office earlier this year is aiming to set an example that "democracies are the countries that can best deliver solutions for people everywhere", Sullivan informed. 

“As he said in his joint session (address), we were the ‘arsenal of democracy’ in World War II,” Sullivan said. “We’re going to be the ‘arsenal of vaccines’ over this next period to help end the pandemic.”

This also comes amid mounting pressure on the United States to outline its global vaccine sharing plan. The announcement also follows a week after the White House unveiled its plans to donate an initial allotment of 25 million doses of surplus vaccine overseas, mostly through the United Nations-backed COVAX program, promising infusions for South and Central America, Asia, Africa and others at a time of glaring shortages abroad. The White House has also planned to share 80 million doses globally by the end of June, most through COVAX. Moreover, a quarter of the nation’s excess will be kept in reserve for emergencies and for the US to share the vaccines directly with its allies and partners. The doses have also been directed towards US allies like South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine.

“The Biden administration’s decision to purchase and donate additional COVID-19 vaccine doses is the kind of bold leadership that is needed to end this global pandemic,” said Tom Hart, acting CEO at The ONE Campaign, a nonprofit that seeks to end poverty.

“This action sends an incredibly powerful message about America’s commitment to helping the world fight this pandemic and the immense power of US global leadership.”

Meanwhile, Sullivan also revealed that he does not expect the U.S. push to waive the patents on vaccines to cause tension with European counterparts. “We’re all converging around the idea that we need to boost vaccine supply in a number of ways, sharing more of our own doses,” Sullivan told reporters aboard Air Force One. “We’ll have more to say on that, helping get more manufacturing capacity around the world.” Globally, there have been more than 3.7 million confirmed deaths from COVID-19, and more than 174 million people have been confirmed infected. 

(With AP Inputs)