The U.S. will reportedly purchase 500 million Pfizer doses, donate them worldwide

Tim O'Donnell, Contributing Writer
·1 min read
Joe Biden.
Joe Biden. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

The United States is about to ramp up its global COVID-19 vaccine donation efforts, three people familiar with the Biden administration's plans told The Washington Post.

Biden will reportedly announce during a Group of Seven meeting in the United Kingdom this week that the U.S. will purchase 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and designate them specifically for worldwide distribution over the next year. The White House had previously said it would share 80 million doses with other countries by the end of June, so this appears to be a significant development as the gap in vaccine accessibility between rich and poor countries grows more glaring.

CNN's Kaitlin Collins reports that about 40 percent of the future doses will go out this year, and The Associated Press notes the remaining doses are slated for delivery in the first half of 2022. Read more at The Washington Post.