White House to send US-authorized vaccines overseas for first time 

The U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses of domestically authorized coronavirus vaccines with the rest of the world by the end of June, President Biden announced Monday.

The vaccine exports will consist of doses from either Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech or Johnson & Johnson, which are the only three vaccines authorized for use in the U.S.

The move is in addition to a previous commitment to send 60 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses overseas as soon as they are cleared by the Food and Drug Administration.

Details: There aren’t many. The administration didn’t say how the doses would be allocated, or who would make that decision.

Under pressure: The move comes amid mounting pressure on Biden to increase vaccine aid abroad.

The administration had initially been reluctant to send any doses overseas, saying the extra doses could be a backstop for possible manufacturing issues, used to vaccinate children, or serve as booster doses if necessary to fight against variants of the virus.

But the vaccine supply picture has improved dramatically in the U.S., while there are at the same time worsening crises in other countries. India has even faced shortages of oxygen as it deals with an alarming spike in cases.