President Biden will pledge to export an additional 20 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to other countries by the end of June, a White House official said
WASHINGTON—The U.S. plans to share 20 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines produced by Moderna Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Johnson & Johnson with the rest of the world, the White House said Monday, on top of the 60 million AstraZeneca doses it had already promised to export.
President Biden, who is scheduled to deliver remarks on the coronavirus pandemic later Monday, will say all 80 million vaccine doses are expected to be exported by the end of June, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said. The AstraZeneca doses will be delivered once federal authorities sign off, she said.
“This is the most doses donated by any country in the world by five times,” Ms. Psaki said of the 80 million total. Mr. Biden will also announce that Jeff Zients, the White House Covid-19 coordinator, is going to lead the administration’s global vaccination efforts, an administration official said. Amid outbreaks in India and Brazil and with more people in the U.S. getting vaccinated, Mr. Biden has faced pressure to export vaccines to other countries. The president had previously said he wanted to ensure that Americans had access to the vaccine.