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FILE
PHOTO:
U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
waves
upon
arrival
at
Cornwall
Airport
Newquay,
near
Newquay,
Cornwall,
Britain
June 9,
2021.
(REUTERS/Phil
Noble/Pool) |
| |
Biden to
donate
500
million
Pfizer
doses,
urge
others
to join
in
By
Andrea
Shalal,
Steve
Holland
reuters.com
NEWQUAY,
CORNWALL
- U.S.
President
Joe
Biden
plans to
buy and
donate
500
million
doses of
the
Pfizer
(PFE.N)
coronavirus
vaccine
to more
than 90
countries,
while
calling
on the
world’s
democracies
to do
their
part to
help end
the
deadly
pandemic,
the
White
House
said.
The
announcement
of the
vaccine
donation
- the
largest
ever by
a single
country
- comes
ahead of
Biden's
meeting
with
leaders
of the
other
Group of
Seven
advanced
economies
-
Britain,
Canada,
France,
Germany,
Italy
and
Japan -
in
Cornwall,
England.
"The
goal of
today's
donation
is to
save
lives
and end
the
pandemic
and will
provide
the
foundation
for
additional
actions
to be
announced
in the
coming
days,"
the
White
House
said.
U.S.
drugmaker
Pfizer
and its
German
partner
BioNTech
(22UAy.DE)
confirmed
they
will
provide
200
million
doses in
2021 and
300
million
doses in
the
first
half of
2022,
which
the
United
States
will
then
distribute
to 92
lower-income
countries
and the
African
Union.
The
shots,
which
will be
produced
at
Pfizer's
U.S.
production
sites,
will be
provided
at a
not-for-profit
price.
"Our
partnership
with the
U.S.
government
will
help
bring
hundreds
of
millions
of doses
of our
vaccine
to the
poorest
countries
around
the
world as
quickly
as
possible,"
said
Pfizer
Chief
Executive
Albert
Bourla.
"SUPERCHARGE
THE
GLOBAL
FIGHT"
The
donation,
first
reported
on
Wednesday,
was
negotiated
over the
past
four
weeks by
White
House
COVID-19
response
coordinator
Jeff
Zients
and the
coronavirus
task
force
team, a
source
familiar
with the
matter
said.
It is
meant to
"supercharge
the
global
fight
against
the
pandemic,"
the
White
House
said.
The
pandemic
has
killed
about
3.9
million
people
around
the
world,
with the
infection
reported
in more
than 210
countries
and
territories
since
the
first
cases
were
identified
in China
in
December
2019.
The new
donations
come on
top of
some 80
million
doses
Washington
has
already
pledged
to
donate
by the
end of
June,
and $2
billion
in
funding
earmarked
for the
COVAX
program
led by
the
World
Health
Organization
and the
Global
Alliance
for
Vaccines
and
Immunization,
the
White
House
said.
They
will be
part of
the
total
U.S.
commitment
of $4
billion
to COVAX
announced
earlier
this
year, a
White
House
official
said.
Washington
is also
taking
steps to
support
local
production
of
COVID-19
vaccines
in other
countries,
including
through
its Quad
initiative
with
Japan,
India
and
Australia.
"President
Biden
has been
clear
that
borders
cannot
keep
this
pandemic
at bay
and has
vowed
that our
nation
will be
the
arsenal
of
vaccines,"
the
White
House
said.
Pfizer
plans to
produce
the half
a
billion
doses at
its
facilities
in
Kalamazoo,
Michigan;
McPherson,
Kansas;
Chesterfield,
Missouri;
and
Andover,
Massachusetts,
the
White
House
said.
CNBC
reported
on
Wednesday
that the
United
States
is also
talking
with
Moderna
Inc
about
buying
some of
its
shots to
donate
to other
countries.
A
Moderna
spokesperson
said the
company
is
interested
in
providing
the U.S.
government
with
COVID-19
shots
for low-
and
middle-income
countries,
but
declined
to
comment
on any
talks.
Biden's
announcement
comes
amid
mounting
pressure
for the
United
States,
which
has now
given at
least
one shot
to
around
64% of
its
adult
population,
to boost
donations
of
COVID-19
shots to
other
countries
that are
desperately
seeking
doses.
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