AP: “The U.S. is planning to send a combined 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Mexico and Canada in its first export of shots, the White House said Thursday. Press secretary Jen Psaki said the Biden administration is in the process of finalizing efforts to distribute 2.5 million doses to Mexico and 1.5 million to Canada as a ‘loan.’ The details are still being worked out.”
“‘Our first priority remains vaccinating the U.S. population,’ Psaki said at the daily briefing. But she added that ‘ensuring our neighbors can contain the virus is a mission critical step, is mission critical to ending the pandemic.’ The AstraZeneca vaccine has not been authorized for use in the U.S. but has been by the World Health Organization. Tens of millions of doses have been stockpiled in the U.S. should it receive emergency use authorization, sparking an international outcry that lifesaving doses were being withheld when they could be used elsewhere. Psaki said multiple nations have requested access to the vaccines, but she didn’t have anything to add on further distributions.”