WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States plans to invest billions of dollars in expanding COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity and make available an additional one billion doses per year, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said on Wednesday.
Activists have pressured President Joe Biden’s administration to increase vaccine supply to poorer countries.
Zients said the government was preparing to offer makers of the mRNA vaccines substantial help to expand infrastructure and capacity, including facilities, equipment, staff or training.
In the near future, the initiative would provide a sizable number of COVID-19 vaccination doses for cost for usage worldwide. Long-term, according to Zients, it would contribute in building up indigenous manufacturing capability to quickly create vaccinations against potential dangers.
According to Zients, 80% of Americans aged 12 and above have had at least one dosage of the COVID-19 vaccine, marking a significant advancement in the fight against the fatal virus’s spread.
Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Bernadette Baum, and David Gregorio; reporting by Jeff Mason and Alexandra Alper; additional reporting by Doina Chiacu and Ahmed Aboulenein.
“The objective, in case of an impending a worldwide epidemic, a pandemic the virus, was to establish vaccine capacity within between six and nine months of detection of that epidemic infectious agent, and to provide sufficient vaccinations for all the Americans,” he said.
Also Read: US Considers $10bn Aid for Israel Amid Global Over Gaza attack
