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The White House said on Thursday the US aims to share extra coronavirus vaccine doses with Mexico and Canada.
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White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the plan to share doses is not fully finalized but it is the Biden administration’s aim.
Mexico will receive 2.5 million doses of the vaccine and Canada will receive 1.5 million doses, an administration official told Reuters.
“This virus has no borders,” the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. “We only put the virus behind us if we’re helping our global partners.”
The Biden administration has come under pressure from allies worldwide to share vaccine, particularly from AstraZeneca, which is authorized for use in other countries but not yet in the US.
AstraZeneca has millions of doses made in a US facility, and has said that it would have 30 million shots ready at the beginning of April. The company’s shares rose slightly on the news.
The deal to share the vaccine, which is still being finalized, does not affect President Joe Biden’s plans to have vaccine available for all adults in the US by the end of May, the official said. The deal is likely to be announced publicly in the coming days.
Two officials said the vaccine would be delivered in “short order” once the deal was completed, but they declined to give a more specific timetable.
The “releasable” vaccines are ready to be used once they arrive. Under the deal, the US will share doses with Mexico and Canada now with the understanding that they will pay the US back with doses in return. The official said that would take place later this year.
The US had no plans to share the vaccine with other countries at this time, he said.
“They are our neighbors, they are our partners,” the official said about Mexico and Canada. Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador had requested the vaccine previously.
Biden has said if the US has a surplus of vaccine, it will share it with the rest of the world.
The official noted that the US has pledged $4 billion to the COVAX vaccine facility that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries.
Read more:
US plans to use real world, trial data to establish when vaccines need to be updated
US AstraZeneca authorization could come in a month, official says
Mexico expects US response to AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine request on March 19
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