The United States plans to send roughly 4 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in loan deals with the two countries, yielding to requests to share vaccines with allies.
Gloria Tso reports.
The United States is planning to share around 4 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine with Mexico and Canada.
The Biden administration has come under pressure from countries around the world to share vaccines, particularly AstraZeneca's, which is authorized for use in both Canada and Mexico but not yet in the U.S. White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday Mexico will receive 2.5 million doses of the vaccine and Canada 1.5 million doses.
"Our first priority remains vaccinating the U.S. population.
The reality is that the pandemic knows no borders and ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission critical step to ending that pandemic." The news comes as EU and UK regulators confirmed on Thursday that AstraZeneca's vaccine is safe and effective, after reports of a rare form of blood clotting prompted over a dozen countries to suspend its use.
President Biden has previously said the U.S. will share vaccines if there is a surplus.
The White House says it will begin rolling out the AstraZeneca vaccine domestically if it gets FDA approval, but it also said it doesn't need the shots to meet its target of vaccinating all American adults by the end of May.
The three vaccines currently authorized in the U.S., Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, have all promised to deliver nearly 500 million doses to Americans by then.
