Biden administration plans to send doses of AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada and Mexico

The Biden administration has pledged to have enough vaccines for all Americans before sharing doses, and if that deal goes through, it would be the first time the United States has shared vaccines directly with another country. It would also likely give a major boost to vaccination efforts in Canada and Mexico, which are grappling with their vaccine rollout compared to the United States.

The administration official told CNN that one option under consideration was a swap deal with the two countries: an agreement to share doses of AstraZeneca now on condition that Mexico and Canada share surplus vaccines. with the United States in the future.

There are tens of millions of doses of AstraZeneca in storage in the United States and the company estimates that it will have around 50 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine available to the United States government by the end of April. None of these doses are currently available to Americans because AstraZeneca has not applied to the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization, and the vaccine is still in clinical trials in the United States. .

AstraZeneca has been approved for use in Canada and Mexico, and the company itself has asked the Biden administration to review inventory donation requests to other countries.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Monday that he was close to concluding two vaccine deals, but he did not say which countries would send them. Another senior Mexican official publicly called on the United States to share AstraZeneca vaccines earlier this week.

A spokesperson for the Canadian Embassy said there had been “big commitments” with the Biden administration over Covid-19 and added that “conversations are ongoing” when it comes down to it. is about getting more Canadians immunized. The spokesperson did not comment on the possible swap deal.

Tensions over vaccine diplomacy

These conversations come as political leaders in Mexico and Canada come under increasing pressure to obtain vaccines amid a larger global rush for doses.

The United States is now ahead of almost every other country in the world in vaccinating its people and in securing contracts with vaccine producers. Biden said last week that by May 1, all adults will be able to receive vaccines.

The United States has contributed $ 2 billion in total to a global coronavirus vaccine initiative called COVAX, and has pledged an additional $ 2 billion “as we work with other donors to increase pledges made “. It has bilateral agreements with some countries for vaccine storage efforts and is working alongside allies in the Asia-Pacific region to increase production in India.

The Biden administration will end up sharing the excess vaccines – beyond the doses of AstraZeneca – and does not consider the joint efforts of US allies to prevent them from unilaterally giving vaccines to other countries later, according to the top. responsible for administration.

“We are giving $ 4 billion to COVAX. But we also know that once we get our own country vaccinated, since we’ve suffered worse than virtually any country except Brazil – we’re both up there with over 530,000 deaths – then we will make any surplus vaccine available to countries that do not have the resources to manufacture it themselves, ”Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Wednesday at a hearing of the Chamber’s Energy and Commerce Committee.

Biden made the same pledge last week.

“If we have a surplus, we’ll share it with the rest of the world,” Biden said. “We’re going to start by making sure Americans are taken care of first.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said last week that “until everyone is vaccinated, no one is really safe”.

The Biden administration’s decision to focus on vaccines, especially given the urgent global need and the administration’s top priority to reaffirm US global leadership, places the Biden administration in a somewhat awkward position compared to its global rivals.

China has taken a different approach from the United States and exports vaccines widely before making them widely available in their country. Russia and India also share vaccines but not on the same scale as Beijing. China’s Foreign Ministry announced on March 3 that it was providing free vaccines to 69 countries and commercially exporting them to 28 others.

Some U.S. allies and partners fear that China’s global effort to ramp up vaccine exports and vaccine production agreements so rapidly will make it difficult for the United States to catch up, diplomats told CNN.

Mexico has received AstraZeneca injections from India and is also at the center of China’s vaccine diplomacy. Mexican media reported on March 9 that the country would receive 22 million doses of Chinese vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm.

Beijing’s pressure to aggressively export vaccines has been characterized by US officials as an attempt to spread China’s influence and soft power.

When asked on Wednesday whether the United States would be able to surpass China’s vaccine diplomacy efforts after fulfilling the pledge to vaccinate Americans, Deputy State Department spokeswoman Jalina Porter did not answer the question.

A State Department spokesperson said that while Biden has made it clear that vaccinating Americans is a priority, he is also “deeply focused on the issue of expanding vaccination, manufacturing and delivery in the world, all of which will be essential to ending the pandemic “.