Biden administration to send surplus U.S. COVID-19 vaccines to Egypt, several countries

The Biden administration plans to distribute U.S. COVID-19 vaccine doses to several countries, including Egypt, Gaza, Jordan, Iraq and Yemen.

The White House announced in a statement on Thursday that the U.S. government plans to send 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. This is the first time President Joe Biden has shared shots it could have used at home.

Through the World Health Organisation-backed Covax programme, the U.S. will distribute an initial 6 million shots to Central and South America, 7 million to Asia including hard-hit India and 5 million to Africa, the White House statement added.

The U.S. will directly send another 6 million shots to places including Mexico, Canada, South Korea, and the Palestinian territories, the statement read. Overall, the U.S. plans to send 75 percent of its total donated doses to the Covax programme, it concluded.

Egypt is currently using China’s Sinopharm vaccine and the UK’s AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine. Its Ministry of Health announced that it would soon begin the production of Russia’s Sputnik V and China’s Sinovac vaccines at Vacsera.