Biden administration to buy 500 million Pfizer vaccine doses to donate to the world

The Biden administration is buying 500 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to donate to the world as the United States dramatically increases its efforts to help vaccinate more of the global population, The Washington Post reports, citing sources familiar with the plans said Wednesday.

The first 200 million doses will be distributed this year, with the subsequent 300 million shared in the first half of next year. The doses will be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to share doses around the globe, and they will be targeted at low- and middle-income countries. Pfizer is selling the doses to the United States at a “not-for-profit” price, according to the people familiar with the deal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details that were not yet public.

President Biden is slated to announce the plan this week at the Group of Seven meeting in Britain, where he is expected to be joined by Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. The deal comes amid growing calls for the United States and other rich countries to play a more substantial role in boosting the global supply of coronavirus vaccines.

The White House and Pfizer declined to comment, but the president hinted he would be announcing his global plan as he boarded Air Force One to Britain on Wednesday.

“I have one, and I’ll be announcing it,” he told reporters.

Many public health experts and advocacy groups cheered the news of the White House’s deal with Pfizer, saying US leadership on the issue will be critical to vaccinating the world — even if much remains to be done.

“It’s an extraordinary development,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, adding that the announcement “sends a profound signal in terms of U.S. commitment to global health security and willingness to help end this pandemic for the world and the United States.”