US has shared 400M vaccine doses globally

The United States has shared 400 million coronavirus vaccine doses with the global population, more than any other nation, the Biden administration announced Wednesday.

White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients announced the milestone during a public health briefing on Wednesday, saying that 400 million vaccine doses have been sent to 112 countries “for free, with no strings attached.”

The U.S. sent roughly 3.2 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Bangladesh and 4.7 million doses to Pakistan this week, according to a White House official, bringing the total doses shared to 400 million. The vaccine doses are being shared through COVAX, the World Health Organization-backed initiative to vaccinate lower-income countries.

But, according to the Financial Times, COVAX is almost out of money, and can’t accept any new donations that don’t come with needed accessories like syringes.

Infectious disease doctor Peter Hotez tweeted the 400 million dose number is “nothing to brag about” and repeated a warning that failing to adequately vaccinate the world will lead to even more variants spreading out from under-vaccinated nations and prolonging the pandemic.