Biden Administration Will Ship 11 Million Vaccine Doses to Africa and Other Regions

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Last updated on July 18th, 2023 at 01:43 pm

The Biden administration will announce a plan to ship 11 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine to Africa and other regions, according to remarks obtained by The Hill that will be delivered by Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.

“Just today, we are shipping 11 million doses. Eleven million doses in one day. That’s more doses shipped by the U.S. in a single day than what all but seven other countries have delivered in total since the start of this pandemic,” Zients will say. “Of the 11 million — 9 million are shipping to Africa — bringing our total doses donated to Africa to 100 million. That’s American leadership. And we are calling on the rest of the world to step up and join us.”

The announcement reflects the Biden administration’s broader effort to increase global vaccine rates by accelerating vaccine shipments. The administration previously pledged to share more than 1 billion doses worldwide, the majority of them through COVAX, global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

The announcement comes as the world reels from the discovery of the Omicron variant, which was first detected in South Africa and motivated many Western nations to bar travel from several African countries. Some countries, like Israel, Japan, and Morocco have blocked foreign travelers altogether.