US to share up to 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries

AstraZeneca |
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The United States will share stored doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine with other countries once the coronavirus vaccine is approved by federal safety authorities, the White House said on Monday.

Main facts

• The move paves the way for the export of 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as soon as they become available, according to Andy Slavitt, the White House’s senior advisor on pandemic issues.
• Doses will only be given after they have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, which will test the safety and quality of the vaccine over the next few months.
• The AstraZeneca vaccine has been approved for emergency use in dozens of countries, but not yet in the United States.

The context

The United States ordered more than 300 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine last year, but the company has not filed an emergency use request with the Food and Drug Administration due to stagnation in trials clinics. The decision to share doses of AstraZeneca came as the Biden administration faced increasing pressure to aid global inoculation efforts, particularly as the vaccine supply in the United States began to respond to the demand. request. It was not immediately clear which countries would receive the doses. The Biden government said over the weekend that the United States would provide vaccination supplies and other emergency aid to India, where hundreds of thousands of new cases of coronavirus every day have sparked a real crisis.

What to watch out for

The FDA is expected to review 10 million doses of AstraZeneca for authorization over the next few weeks and 50 million in May and June, White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said at a press conference. Earlier this month, AstraZeneca was ordered to search for a new production site after its original site came under scrutiny. The FDA said the Baltimore plant, owned by Emergent BioSolutions, was plagued by contamination issues that ultimately ruined 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson.

Important quote

“Given the strong portfolio of vaccines that the United States has already authorized and which are available in large quantities… and given that AstraZeneca is not authorized for use in the United States, we do not need to ‘use AstraZeneca in our fight against Covid-19 over the next few months,’ said Jen Psaki.

Article translated from Forbes US – Author: Gina Heeb

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