Mar 9, 2022 - Health

U.S. set to miss COVID vaccine donation goal

Caitlin Owens

A healthcare worker prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine — A health care worker prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Photo: Pongmanat Tasiri/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

The U.S. has pledged to donate more than 1 billion COVID vaccines around the world, but it would have to significantly scale up its monthly donation rate to meet that goal by the end of this year, according to a new Public Citizen analysis.

Why it matters: Vaccines not only save lives, but also help protect the world against new variants.

Details: The U.S. had shipped 474 million doses abroad by the end of February and was recently donating around 60 million doses a month.

To reach 1.2 billion doses by the end of 2022 — which USAID recently cited as the administration's goal — the U.S. would have to increase its donation rate to 73 million doses per month, per Public Citizen.

What we're watching: Congress is poised to give billions more to international pandemic efforts, which could include supporting vaccinations.

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U.S. set to miss COVID vaccine donation goal

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