The US government has laid out a plan to share 55 million US COVID-19 vaccine doses globally, with roughly 75% of the doses allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa through the COVAX international vaccine-sharing programme, Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday.
This plan reportedly fulfils US President Joe Biden's commitment to share 80 million US-made COVID-19 vaccines with countries around the world. Biden had listed out his priorities for the first 25 million doses from that pledge earlier this month.
Of the 55 million remaining vaccine doses, about 41 million doses will be shared through COVAX, the White House said, with approximately 14 million going to Latin America and the Caribbean, about 16 million to Asia, and roughly 10 million doses to Africa.
The other 25%, or roughly 14 million doses, will be shared with "regional priorities," including Colombia, Argentina, Iraq, Ukraine, the West Bank and Gaza.
According to White House spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, the US had faced logistical issues getting vaccine to other nations.
These 55 million doses will be taken from the US supply of Pfizer Inc (NYSE:PFE), Moderna Inc (Nasdaq:MRNA) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) shots.
In the event that AstraZeneca's (LON:AZN) vaccine gets a green light from the US Food and Drug Administration, it would also likely be added to the mix as well.
The White House said it wanted the doses to be prioritised for health care workers and those who are most at risk.
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