Biden administration to share millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses with Canada, Mexico
Source: MSN
SHINGTON — The Biden administration is working to finalize plans to send millions of doses of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada, the White House said Thursday.
About 2.5 million doses would go to Mexico and 1.5 million doses would go to Canada as U.S. regulators wait on the company to provide further data on the vaccine’s safety and effectiveness.
The move to release some of the U.S. stockpile, which comes as the government confronts a growing humanitarian crisis on the southern border, would not affect the country's ability to have enough vaccine doses for all Americans by May, according to the White House.
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The AstraZeneca vaccine has yet to be cleared for use in the U.S., though it is already being administered in Europe and a number of other countries, some of which have asked the U.S. to share some of its stockpiled doses. The U.S. currently has 7 million doses in its inventory, according to Psaki.
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This makes sense given the delay in approving the AstraZeneca vaccine in the U.S. with millions of doses in limbo. Of course, Canada and Mexico will have to deal with vaccine hesitancy with respect to this vaccine, since there is evidence that this particular vaccine is not very effective on some variants.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/09/world/astrazeneca-vaccine-south-africa-variant-intl/index.html#:~:text=South%20Africa%20pauses%20AstraZeneca%20vaccine%20rollout%20after%20study,virus%20variant%20first%20identified%20there%2C%20known%20as%20B.1.351.
It's the news that many feared: early data shows the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine may provide only "minimal protection" against mild to moderate illness caused by the coronavirus variant first identified in South Africa.
But this doesn't mean governments should throw out their AstraZeneca stockpiles. Experts say it's possible -- and very likely -- that the shot is still effective in preventing severe disease and death. The news could, however, be a major roadblock on the world's way out of the pandemic, which can't "end" until the virus stops circulating widely.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and easier to transport and store than some of the other vaccines approved for use to date and as such, was going to play a key part in combating the pandemic in low and middle-income countries. If the vaccine isn't effective enough against the new variant, it could deepen the already huge vaccination gap between the world's richest and poorest countries.