U.S. to share doses globally

The U.S. will buy 500 million more doses of the Pfizer COVID19 vaccine to share through the COVAX alliance for donation to 92 lower income countries and the African Union over the next year, a person familiar with the matter said Wednesday. Some 200 million doses would be shared this year, with the balance to be donated in the first half of 2022. People familiar with the deal said the United States will pay for the doses at a “notforprofit” price. The 500 million doses, all of which will be produced in the United States, still fall far short of the 11 billion doses the World Health Organization estimates are needed to vaccinate the world, but significantly exceed what the United States has committed to share so far.

Themba Hadebe / Associated Press Health workers at a drivethrough vaccination center in Johannesburg, South Africa, check documents of seniors lining up late last month for the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.