USA will begin to distribute the AstraZeneca doses with other countries very soon
An official told on Monday that the United States would soon begin sharing millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries.
Ten million of AstraZeneca vaccines have been stockpiled in the United States but have not been used because they have not yet received urgent approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Since President Joe Biden’s officials are now confident of getting enough doses for the American population, they will begin distributing it to other countries.
Multiple world leaders have pressured Biden to share the dose as other countries continue to fight for the vaccine. One of those countries is India, which is currently one of the worst in the world. Biden and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on Monday, but did not mention sharing a readout vaccine from the call issued by the White House.
The Associated Press was the first to publish the report.
Countries have been eagerly applying to the United States for shipments of the vaccine due to dosing by rich countries. Biden administration officials have described daily phone calls from collaborators, both rich and poor, seeking help to secure doses of the vaccine.
The U.S. is expected to have a surplus of vaccines in millions of doses. Several of these doses have already been shipped to Mexico and Canada.
But U.S. “vaccine diplomacy” has been sharply limited by concerns among Biden administration officials that unforeseen factors may necessitate a stockpile of doses, including the need for booster, the spread of alternatives, and the uncertain nature of vaccines that work best in children.
Political concerns have also weighed on officials, who are wary of sending doses abroad before every American enters them.
We see what is being done with a few vaccines that we are not using. We made sure they were safe to ship. And we hope to be able to be somewhat hopeful and valuable to countries “globally,” Biden said earlier this month.
Other countries, such as Russia and China – the political disadvantages of sending vaccines abroad have had little effect on leaders’ decision-making – have increased their influence in places such as Southeast Asia and pushed the United States far ahead in vaccine distribution.
