White House to allocate 55M COVID-19 vaccine doses for global distribution

The Biden-Harris administration today announced a global distribution list for 55 million doses of America’s COVID-19 vaccine supply.

Biden pledged to allocate 80 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine supply belonging to the U.S. by the end of June to aid the global fight against the pandemic. Earlier this month, the administration announced the plan for the first 25 million doses that the U.S. has begun shipping, with the remaining 55 million doses announced today.

The White House also recently struck a deal with Pfizer and BioNTech to provide 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to roughly 100 countries over two years.

According to the latest news release, the U.S. will share 75% of the 80 million through COVAX and 25% are earmarked to help with surges around the world. The doses are slated to be allocated based on national vaccine plans, prioritizing those most at risk, including healthcare workers.

The allocation plan for the 55 million doses announced today includes 41 million to be shared through COVAX, with 14 million for Latin America and the Caribbean, with doses going to Brazil, Argentina, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, Dominican Republic, Panama, and Costa Rica.

Additionally, approximately 16 million will be distributed across Asia to India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Bhutan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, Cambodia, and the Pacific Islands. Then, 10 million doses will go to Africa to be shared with countries that will be selected in coordination with the African Union.

The administration said approximately 14 million of the 55 million vaccines will be shared with regional priorities and other recipients, including Colombia, Argentina, Haiti, other CARICOM countries, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Cabo Verde, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Tunisia, Oman, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Georgia, Moldova, and Bosnia.

“Sharing millions of U.S. vaccines with other countries signals a major commitment by the U.S. Government,” the White House briefing said. “Just like we have in our domestic response, we will move as expeditiously as possible, while abiding by U.S. and host country regulatory and legal requirements, to facilitate the safe and secure transport of vaccines across international borders. This will take time, but the President has directed the Administration to use all the levers of the U.S. government to protect individuals from this virus as quickly as possible.

“The specific vaccines and amounts will be determined and shared as the administration works through the logistical, regulatory and other parameters particular to each region and country.”