The United States said Monday that it will donate 14 million COVID-19 vaccines to COVAX for distribution in Latin America and the Caribbean, and another 14 million to countries it considers a priority, such as Colombia, Argentina and Haiti.
“Our goals are to increase global COVID-19 vaccination coverage, be prepared for increases, and prioritize healthcare workers and other vulnerable populations,” Joe Biden’s government said in a statement. He clarified that the United States “will not use its vaccines to secure favors from other countries.”
COVAX is a mechanism created by the United Nations and other organizations to distribute vaccines equitably.
The announcement comes as low- and middle-income nations struggle to access doses.
After having vaccinated a large part of their population, developed countries such as the United States have committed to offering the most needy territories part of the doses that are left over or have been manufactured in their territories. The G-7 promised to donate 1,000 doses, 500 million of them from the United States.
In recent weeks, four of the five countries with the highest number of reported weekly deaths were in the Americas, according to the Pan American Health Organization. Only one in 10 people has been vaccinated in the region, according to PAHO.
The United States did not specify how many doses it will allocate to each country, but said the donations are part of the 80 million vaccines it has pledged to offer before the end of June. On Monday he provided details of how 55 million of those doses will be distributed. The other 25 million had already been announced.
Of the 55 million, about 41 will be shared through COVAX. Of these, 14 million doses will reach countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Uruguay, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica and others.
Some 14 million more doses will be shared with countries in the region that are considered a priority, including Colombia, Argentina, Haiti and countries of the English-speaking Caribbean, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Panama.
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