Biden announces US to buy 500M vaccine doses in show of American leadership

Ahead of the G-7, President Joe Biden announced the US will buy 500 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to donate to nearly 100 countries across the world.

President Joe Biden on Thursday announced his plan to buy an additional 500 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine to distribute to lower-income countries, increasing the U.S. commitment to fighting the pandemic across the globe, a key goal of the G-7 summit. "That's a historic step. The largest single purchase and donation 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," Biden said, touting the announcement in the Cornwall village of St. Ives, the United Kingdom seaside resort village where world leaders are gathering. "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, 2021. And 300 million more will be delivered in the first half of 2022," Biden added. On a call with reporters previewing Biden’s announcement Thursday, a senior administration official clarified that the 500 million doses are in addition to the 80 million doses the U.S. has already announced it would share around the world by the end of 2021 -- for a total of 580 million.