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The U.S. will share 60 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine with other countries, the White House announced Monday, as the Biden administration is under pressure to help areas with struggling cases.
The White House has said no decision has yet been made on what nations will receive the dose, although there is likely to be high demand in India as hospitals in that country have been flooded with record numbers of patients in a new catastrophic wave of infection.
“The administration is looking into the options for distributing doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in America,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday. “We don’t have to use AstraZeneca in the fight against Covid.” BioNTech / Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are licensed for use in the US.
Earlier, Andy Slavitt, the coronavirus adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, tweeted that 60 million doses would be shared “as available”.
AstraZeneca has not yet submitted the vaccine to obtain permission from the U.S., as it continues with tests being conducted in the country. Psaki did not say whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would have to approve the vaccine before it was exported, but said the doses would have to pass quality control checks.
The druggist said, “The doses are part of AstraZeneca’s supply commitments to the U.S. government. The decision to ship the U.S. supply to other countries is made by the U.S. government.”
They had the US previously stated several million AstraZeneca doses would be shipped to Canada and Mexico.
Monday’s announcement came after Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shortly after to offer US support to fight the country’s latest wave of hospitalizations and deaths.
New Delhi reported 349,000 new infections worldwide on Saturday, with more than 2,700 dead, although experts believe the actual numbers are rising. very little has been reported.
The Biden administration has said it will send therapeutic medicines, test tools, fans and personal protective equipment to India over the weekend, as well as “examining” other urgent ways to deliver oxygen.
Biden told Modi on Monday that the U.S. would show “firm support for the people of India caused by the recent rise in the Covid-19 cases.”
European countries have also promised to help. The UK has said it will send hundreds of oxygen concentrators and fans after India makes the request. The EU has said it is “coordinating” the supply of oxygen and medicines after India activated its civil protection mechanism at its request.
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