US to Contribute 500 Million Vaccines to COVAX Stockpile

Millions of shots will go around the world, courtesy of the Biden Administration. During the G7 summit in Britain, US President Joe Biden plans to unveil his administration’s purchase...


Millions of shots will go around the world, courtesy of the Biden Administration.

During the G7 summit in Britain, US President Joe Biden plans to unveil his administration’s purchase of 500 million additional doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. These vaccine doses will be donated to the global vaccine supply and distributed to needy countries through COVAX, the global program that ensures equal access to shots and tests in as many countries as it can reach.

The first 200 million of these new doses will be bought and delivered this year, while the other 300 million will ship out in early 2022. These doses will be earmarked for low- and middle-income countries, as well as the African Union. Altogether, these new doses will lead to the vaccination of 250 million individuals.

This donation comes on the heels of a plea from UNICEF for countries to donate vaccines, as COVAX had been encountering dose shortages in its vaccination efforts. America has the largest supply of vaccines out of all of the world’s countries, which is why those countries have been urging it to share. These 500 million doses from the Biden Administration will be the largest contribution the US has made so far to the global vaccination effort.

Biden will speak more about this donation during the G7 summit.