US to buy hundreds of millions more doses of Pfizer vaccine to donate to the world

The Biden administration purchases hundreds of millions of additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine to give to the world, according to two people familiar with the deal, as the United States seeks to step up efforts to share the vaccines with world population.

The announcement of the purchase is slated for early next week and scheduled for the United Nations General Assembly meeting, said those familiar with the deal, who requested anonymity because they did not were not allowed to discuss the donation.

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The White House declined to comment. Pfizer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Details of the deal were not final on Friday.

In June, the United States purchased 500 million doses of the vaccine to be distributed by Covax, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to share doses globally, and officials said the vaccines would be targeted at low and middle income countries.

The White House is also expected to officially announce on Friday that it is hosting a virtual summit of world leaders and global health advocates in conjunction with meetings of the United Nations General Assembly next week, said three people who spoke under the guise of anonymity to discuss the pending ad.

Biden plans to use the summit, scheduled for Wednesday, to call on world leaders to make new commitments to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, including fully immunizing 70% of the world’s population by next September, securing billions additional doses for the developing world and achieving other targets, according to a list obtained by the Washington Post.

The announcement comes amid growing criticism that the United States is not doing enough to help immunize the world, especially as federal health agencies consider recommending booster shots for Americans. The Biden administration insisted the United States had enough vaccines for booster shots and global donations.

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