Biden pledges to give 500M vaccine doses to countries worldwide
During remarks given in Cornwall, England, on Thursday, President Biden announced that the U.S. will purchase 500 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses and distribute them around the globe.
Video Transcript
JOE BIDEN: And today we're taking a major step that will supercharge the global fight against this pandemic. In my direction, the United States will purchase an additional half billion doses from Pfizer, Pfizer vaccine, that we'll donate nearly 100 low and lower middle income countries. They will be the beneficiaries. Let me say that again. The United States will purchase a half a billion doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to donate to nearly 100 nations that are in dire need in the fight against this pandemic.
That's a historic step, the largest single purchase and donation of COVID-19 vaccines by any single country ever. Importantly, this is the mRNA vaccine, which is proven to be extremely effective against COVID-19 and every known variant of that virus thus far. These half a billion vaccines will start to be shipped in August as quickly as they roll off the manufacturing line. 200 million of these doses will be delivered this year in 2021. And 300 million more will be delivered in the first half of 2022.
Let me be clear. Just as with the 80 million doses we previously announced, the United States is providing these half million doses with no strings attached. Let me say it again, with no strings attached. Our vaccine donations don't include pressure for favors or potential concessions. We're doing this to save lives, to end this pandemic. That's it. Period.
