Biden Announces Donation of 20 Million More Vaccines to Other Countries

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is donating an addition 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine overseas, bringing to more than 80 million the number of vaccines that the U.S. is donating to other countries, President Biden announced Monday.

“Over the past 118 days, our vaccination program has led the world. And today, we’re taking an additional step to help the world,” Biden said during a speech in the East Room of the White House. “We know America will never be fully safe until the pandemic that’s raging globally is under control. No ocean is wide enough, no wall is high enough to keep us safe. Rampant disease and death in other countries can destabilize those countries and pose a risk to us as well. New variants could arise overseas that could put us at greater risk. And we need to help fight the disease around the world to keep us safe here at home, and to do the right thing of helping other people … It’s the smart thing to do. It’s the strong thing to do.”

The president reviewed the history of the U.S. vaccine donations thus far, noting that in March the U.S. “shared over 4 million doses of our AstraZeneca vaccine with Canada and Mexico. At the end of April we announced that we would provide another 60 million doses of our AstraZeneca vaccine overseas — remember, this is the vaccine that’s not authorized for use in United States yet.”

The latest donation of 20 million vaccines, however, will consist of those made by Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, all three of which are authorized for emergency use in the U.S.

Biden stressed that “by the end of June, we will have taken delivery of enough of such vaccines to protect everyone in the United States,” so these extra vaccines will not be needed here. He said the U.S. will work with COVAX — the international organization set up to distribute vaccines to countries that may not be able to afford them — as well as other international partners “to ensure that the vaccines are delivered in a way that is equitable, and follows the science and the public health data.”

“Working with the world’s democracies, we will coordinate a multilateral effort to end this pandemic,” he added. “I expect to announce progress in this area at the G7 summit in the United Kingdom in June.”

Biden said he was putting Jeff Zients, the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, in charge of coordinating the U.S. role in that effort; Zients will work with experts from the National Security Council, the Department of State, the Agency for International Development, and the Department of Health and Human Services. “We’re going to bring the same ‘whole of government’ response to the global effort that made us so successful here at home,” Biden said.

Biden also announced some optimistic news about the pandemic in the U.S. “Today, for the first time since the pandemic began, cases are down in all 50 states,” he said. “I can’t promise that we’ll continue this way … but if the unvaccinated get vaccinated, they will protect themselves and other unvaccinated people around them.” In addition, “when tomorrow’s vaccination numbers come out, they’ll show that 60% of Americans have received at least one shot,” he said. “Every day, a light at the end of that tunnel is growing brighter … Deaths are down from COVID by 81%, and are also at their lowest level since April of 2020.”

“But we’re not done yet,” said Biden. “And some of the hardest work is ahead. We’re still losing too many Americans, and we still have too many unvaccinated people in America.”

Biden emphasized the need for everyone to respect one another’s choices regarding mask-wearing now that the CDC has said that vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks indoors or outside, except in certain circumstances. “As I said last week, some people may want to continue to wear a mask, even if they are fully vaccinated. That’s a decision they can make,” he said.

“Some businesses may want to continue to require wearing masks,” he continued. “Let’s all be kind and respectful to one another as we come out of this pandemic. Respect those who want to continue to wear a mask, even if they’ve been vaccinated. Above all, let’s work together to meet the target I’ve set of 70% of adults — all adults — with at least one shot by July 4th.” Seven states have already hit that 70% mark, he added.

“We can do whatever we set our minds to do, if we do it together,” the president concluded. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do to solve the problem here in the United States — which we are well on our way of doing — and help solve the problem for the world by organizing the rest of the democracies of the world.”