US Distributes 500M Pfizer Vaccines to 100 Countries
The United States is buying 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to donate them among nearly 100 countries by next year.
There remains a stark difference between COVID-19 vaccination efforts in developed countries and poorer ones. 40% people in the US and Britain are fully vaccinated but many in African countries have fully vaccinated less than 1% of their populations. In India, which faced the world's worst coronavirus outbreak this year, just above 3% of the population has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus. Top American newspapers have reported that the United States is buying 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to donate to nearly 100 countries by next year. The doses will be distributed through COVAX, an international vaccine initiative of the WHO.
The move comes after President Joe Biden faced intense pressure to address the global vaccine shortage even as more than 40% of the American population has been fully vaccinated. The first 200 million doses will be distributed by the end of this year, while the remaining 300 million will be sent out by next June. The donations would go to some 92 lower-income nations and the African Union. President Joe Biden will announce the plan at the G7 summit in Britain this week. It is expected he will also encourage leaders of other countries to step up their vaccine distribution efforts.
