U.S. to donate 500 million more vaccine doses to lower-income countries

U.S. to donate 500 million more vaccine doses to lower-income countries The additional doses will bring the total number of shots the U.S. plans to donate to 1.1 billion. NBC News

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is buying 500 million more doses of Pfizer's Covid vaccine that it plans to donate to lower-income countries as President Joe Biden responds to pleas from world leaders to do more to vaccinate the world's population.

The doses will bring the total number of shots the U.S. plans to donate to 1.1 billion, nearly 160 million of which have already been shipped and 200 million of which are expected to go out by the end of the year, an administration official said. The remaining 800 million will be sent out by next September.

Biden is expected to announce the move Wednesday at a Covid summit the White House is hosting, where he plans to call on other countries to make their own contributions with the goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the world's population by next September, the official said. ...