22 Mar President Biden To Send 4m Astrazeneca’s Corona virus Vaccine To The Neighbors
In what is seen as an effort of “vaccine diplomacy,” the US is reportedly to send 4 million AstraZeneca’s vaccine shots to Mexico and Canada. According to the plan drafted by the White House, out of 4 million doses, 2.5 million will be received by Mexico and 1.5 million by Canada.
White House’s spokeswoman Jen Psaki said America has a stockpile of 7 million AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is more than enough to get all the adults vaccinated by May.
Out of these 7 million jabs, President Joe Biden has decided to send a surplus- 4 million, to help the neighboring countries. While Biden is trying to assure that their priority is aiding Americans, he also stated that if they have a surplus, they would be happy to help other countries as well.
The agreement also states that Mexico and Canada are supposed to return the extra doses of vaccine provided by the US.
Moreover, the AstraZeneca Vaccine has not yet been approved in America by the Food and Drug Administration. However, the decision is expected to come next month. The head of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation, Peter Marks, also stated that the vaccine shots would not expire in storage.
On the other hand, countries like Mexico, Canada and the EU have already approved this vaccine and are requesting the US to come to their aid. The jabs were not legalized in the EU before due to blot clots’ diagnosis in people who received them. However, the European Medicines Agency stated that they are safe and have allowed France and Italy to administer the doses.
Mexico has so far administered only 4.7 million doses, which constitutes just 3.7% per 100 people. The Mexican President states that with the influx of 4 million shots from the US, the numbers might increase to 500,000 per day. In return for receiving the vaccine, Mexico has promised the US to help with the immigrant problem.
SOURCE- BBC
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