Biden Administration Announces Plan to Share Millions of Vaccine Doses With Other Countries

The Biden administration on Thursday revealed its plan to send millions of coronavirus vaccine doses across the world.

"We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions," President Joe Biden said in a statement. "We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values."

Biden last month announced that the U.S. will send 80 million vaccine doses abroad by the end of June. While the White House previously announced plans to share 60 million AstraZeneca doses, which have not yet been authorized for emergency use in the U.S., it marked the first time that the Biden administration will export from the pool of vaccines that has already gained regulatory approval.

The administration released a plan for sharing its first 25 million doses, which will be a combination of doses from Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson. The majority of the shots will go through the COVAX program, which is the WHO-led initiative to provide equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines. Approximately 6 million doses will be allocated to Latin America and the Caribbean, about 7 million for South and Southeast Asia and roughly 5 million for Africa, according to the White House.

The remaining 6 million of the first 25 million doses "will be shared directly with countries experiencing surges, those in crisis, and other partners and neighbors, including Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea," according to Biden.

"The United States will be the world's arsenal of vaccines in our shared fight against this virus," Biden said. "In the days to come, as we draw on the experience of distributing the vaccine doses announced today, we will have more details to provide about how future doses will be shared."

The U.S. has already shared more than 4 million vaccine doses with Canada and Mexico.