US to buy 500 million vaccines from Pfizer to donate to the rest of the world

The president of the United States, Joe biden, announced on Wednesday that it will present a global vaccination strategy to end the COVID-19 pandemic during its European tour. “I have a strategy (on global vaccination), and I will announce it”, Biden said without giving reporters further details in a brief statement at Andrews Air Force Base, shortly before leaving for the UK on his first international trip.

A few hours later, the newspapers The Washington Post Yes The New York Times they reported that the Biden government purchases 500 million doses of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine to donate to the world, as the United States dramatically increases its efforts to help immunize the world’s population.

After receiving criticism from the international community for not sharing the vaccines, Biden reported last month that The United States would distribute 80 million vaccines, mostly through COVAX, the program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO).

United States, where the first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in December 2020, it currently has more than 53% of its adults fully vaccinated.

Likewise, Biden indicated that the goal of his trip to Europe is “strengthen the alliance“And” make Russia and China understand that “The United States and Europe are together ”.

Biden took off from the base Andrews, outside Washington, on the presidential plane shortly before 9 a.m. local time, accompanied by his wife, the first lady, Jill biden.

This evening, the plane of the American president is due to land in Cornwall (United Kingdom), where on Thursday he will meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, before participating, from Friday, at the G7 summit, which will last three days.

Subsequently, Biden will travel to Brussels where he will meet his European partners and, finally, to Geneva (Switzerland) to will hold his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16.

For its part, The European Commission on Wednesday asked President Biden to move from “good intentions” to “concrete actions” in cooperation between the European Union and the United States.when they meet next week.

“We have the largest commercial relationship in the world, but the association goes beyond economics, we have shared values ​​and we promote democracy in the world”, said the Commission Vice-President for Economic Affairs, Vladis Dombrosvkis, in a speech to the European Parliament. “When the EU and the US speak with their own voices, things move forward and after a year of unrest the atmosphere has changed for the better,” said the Latvian politician.

In this context, he assured that expects renewed leadership from Washington on issues such as tackling the pandemic, post-crisis economic recovery, digital transformation and climate policy, as well as a fundamental role in reforming international organizations such as the World Organization trade (WTO).

Biden’s visit next week will mark the start of a new era in transatlantic relations, a journey with which the EU wants to leave behind the lags that marked Donald Trump’s time in the White House.

Biden’s arrival at the White House has raised expectations in Brussels about the possibility of restoring relations and restoring multilateral order, although it remains to be seen what concrete steps are taken to ease trade and digital tensions. .

With information from EFE and EuropaPress

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