The U.S. has only shipped about 20 percent of the 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses it has pledged to send directly to other countries by the end of June, two U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the matter told Politico.
The White House in May pledged to deliver 80 million vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, including 20 million through direct donation and 60 million through the global vaccine aid program Covax.
The Biden administration said June 21 it's changing that goal to allocating 80 million doses by the end of June, instead of shipping them out by that date, Politico reported June 22.
A senior official told the publication that the U.S. has sent more than 5 million COVID-19 shots overseas and would ship more later this week. The official didn't specify which countries have gotten those doses or if they went through Covax or direct donation.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said June 21 that getting vaccines to the rest of the world is a "herculean logistical challenge," according to Politico. In addition to logistics, countries getting the vaccines must sign an indemnification agreement in which the vaccine maker is protected against legal liability for things like adverse reactions to the vaccines.
Though direct donations seem like a more efficient way to ship vaccine doses overseas, the indemnification negotiation process can often slow down the delivery process, sources told Politico.
The White House said June 21 that it plans to send the first 14 million direct donation vaccines to "regional priorities and partners," including Colombia, Argentina and Costa Rica.
Lower- and middle-income countries across the world are fighting sharp increases in COVID-19, in part because of the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant, Politico reported.
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