The U.S. will begin sharing its entire pipeline of vaccines from AstraZeneca once the shot clears federal safety reviews, the White House said Monday, with as many as 60 million doses expected to be available for export in the coming months.
The news was first reported by The Associated Press.
The move greatly expands on the Biden administration’s action last month to share about 4 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and Canada. The AstraZeneca vaccine is widely in use around the world but not yet authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The move comes as the White House is increasingly assured about the supply of the three vaccines being administered in the U.S., particularly following the restart of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson shot over the weekend.
The U.S. has also been under mounting pressure in recent weeks to share more of its vaccine supply with the world, as nations like India experience devastating surges of the virus and others struggle to access doses needed to protect their most vulnerable populations.
“Given the strong portfolio of vaccines that the U.S. already has and that have been authorized by the FDA, and given that the AstraZeneca vaccine is not authorized for use in the U.S., we do not need to use the AstraZeneca vaccine here during the next several months,” said White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. “Therefore the U.S. is looking at options to share the AstraZeneca doses with other countries as they become available.”
About 10 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine have been produced but have yet to pass review by the FDA to “meet its expectations for product quality,” Zients said, noting the U.S. regulator is recognized as the “gold standard” for safety around the world. That process could be completed in the next several weeks. About 50 million more doses are in various stages of production and could be available to ship in May and June pending FDA sign-off.
The U.S. has yet to finalize where the AstraZeneca doses will go, Zients said. Neighbors Mexico and Canada have asked the Biden administration to share more doses, while dozens of other countries are looking to access supplies of the vaccine.
The AstraZeneca doses will be donated by the U.S. government, which has contracted with the company for a total of 300 million doses — though the company has faced production issues.
President Joe Biden announced last week that the United States administered 200 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days, more than doubling his initial goal of 100 million doses in that timeframe.
As of Monday, the U.S. has administered nearly 230 million vaccine doses, and delivered over 290 million doses. Nearly 140 million Americans have received at least one dose, with just shy of 95 million people fully vaccinated.
The country’s promising distribution has signaled that the U.S. should start sharing its surplus. The vaccination rate has slowed in recent days, suggesting that supply may soon outstrip demand.
More than 3 million people worldwide have died of COVID-19, including more than 572,000 in the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
