President Biden arriving at Cornwall Airport Newquay in Cornwall, England, on Thurday. Photo: Phil Noble/WPA Pool/Getty Images
The Biden administration will ship the first batch of 500 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines to 92 countries and the African Union from August, the White House announced Thursday morning.
Details: "200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year and the remaining 300 million will be delivered in the first half of 2022," the White House said in a statement.
- U.S. officials will work with the global COVAX vaccine initiative to allocate doses to low and lower-middle income nations, according to the statement.
- The vaccines were bought at a not-for-profit price, rather than the $19.50 per dose the U.S. paid in its initial Pfizer contract, per Axios' Dave Lawler and Caitlin Owens.
The big picture: The announcement "comes on the heels of President Biden's donation of at least 80 million vaccines from the United States' supply by the end of June," the White House said.
- The U.S. has also contributed $2 billion to COVAX, "more than any other nation," the statement added.
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Editor's note: This article has been updated with new details throughout.