US, Pfizer-BioNTech Reach Agreement to Deliver Vaccine Doses to 100 Countries

On Wednesday, the White House reached an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech to provide 500 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to 100 countries over the course of the next year.

President Biden is set to make the announcement with the chief executive of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, as early as Thursday, according to sources familiar with the plan.

President Biden and his administration have been under pressure lately to address the current shortage of vaccines across the world, as well as the fact that rich nations have far better access to doses than poorer nations do.

Those close to the deal said that the United States will pay for the vaccine doses at a “not-for-profit” price. This year will see the first 200 million doses distributed, with the additional 300 million doses being distributed by the middle part of next year.

This new agreement is separate from the previous one agreed upon, which saw the US contracted to buy 300 million doses. This brings the total number of vaccine doses bought by the US from Pfizer and BioNTech to 800 million.

Though this agreement will aid in the inoculation efforts globally, the World health Organization (WHO) estimates that roughly 11 billion doses are needed to vaccinate the global population.

The agreement comes just after President Biden announced that the US would distribute 25 million doses to Caribbean countries, South and Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America and Palestinian territories.

The President also pledged 80 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to send abroad by the end of June.