Biden administration buys 500 million Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses for global use

The Biden administration is purchasing 500 million doses of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine to donate to the global supply, the White House said Thursday. That will provide enough shots to fully vaccinate 250 million people.

The U.S. is donating 200 million doses this year and 300 million doses in the first half of 2022, the White House said. All of the doses will be distributed through COVAX — the global entity that is working to ensure equitable access to COVID testing and vaccines — and will be given to 92 low- and middle-income countries and the African Union.

President Biden will announce the purchase Thursday in his remarks before the Group of Seven summit in Britain. The White House says the vaccines will begin shipping in August. 

Global health leaders have been stepping up their criticism in recent weeks of countries that have elected to use their vaccine supply to give shots to children and other residents at low risk of severe disease within their borders, warning that doing so would come "at the expense of health workers and high-risk groups in other countries."

In an open letter to G7 leaders ahead of the summit, UNICEF warned that COVAX was already facing an immediate shortfall of 190 million doses and urged countries to make "urgent donations by August and to set out a roadmap to scale up donations as supplies increase." COVAX had originally aimed to deliver 2 billion doses of vaccine by 2021.

Purchasing 500 million doses of the vaccine would be the greatest contribution yet by the U.S. to ending the pandemic worldwide. The White House had already committed to sending 80 million doses to other nations.