Us to send covid vaccines to india, other countries

The US government will send 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to foreign countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America. Through the World Health Organization-backed Covax programme, the US plans to distribute 6 million shots to Central and South America, 7 million to Asia including hard-hit India and 5 million to Africa, the White House said in a statement.

The US government will send 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to foreign countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America, the first time President Joe Biden’s administration has shared shots it could have used at home.

Through the World Health Organization-backed Covax program, the US plans to distribute 6 million shots to Central and South America, 7 million to Asia including hard-hit India and 5 million to Africa, the White House said in a statement.

The US will directly send another 6 million shots to places including Mexico, Canada, South Korea and the Palestinian territories, the White House said. Overall, the White House plans to send 75% of its total donated doses to the Covax program.

“As the days get brighter and brighter at home, we’re focused on driving progress to help the pandemic around the globe,” White House Covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said at a briefing Thursday.

The move is a watershed moment for the US, which secured the first hundreds of millions of doses made on its soil for domestic use but intends to be an engine of vaccine production globally. As vaccine demand wanes at home, Biden is facing calls internationally to release the American stockpile of shots made by Pfizer Inc, Moderna Inc and Johnson & Johnson in order to curb the rise of coronavirus variants against which existing vaccines might provide less protection.