The administration of US President Joe Biden is negotiating with Pfizer to buy an additional 500 million coronavirus vaccines to donate globally, doubling the government's commitment to helping less wealthy countries.
According to Arabiya Net, a deal is expected to be announced in the coming days, ahead of the international Covid summit called by Biden on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, according to Bloomberg sources.
The Biden administration struck a nearly identical agreement with the company in August, and Pfizer was shipping those doses to Covax. The program has been slow to deliver doses to participating countries, leaving many less affluent countries to vaccinate only a small percentage of their population.
For his part, the White House COVID-19 crisis management team coordinator, Jeff Zentes, said on September 17: The President has been clear that we will do more and more to help lead a vaccine. Countries of the world against the Corona virus.
While the donations are an important diplomatic gesture by the United States, widespread vaccination of the world's population will also help reduce the chances of mutations that can escape from vaccines that protect Americans.
The large donation will also help stave off criticism that the United States is hoarding vaccines to give its citizens a booster while waiting for some lower-income regions of the world to get vaccinated. The FDA's decision on whether to clear booster doses for use could happen within days, after an external panel of experts recommended that the vaccines be cleared for people 65 and older and those at high risk.
