The Biden government took a modest first step toward sharing coronavirus vaccines with the world on Thursday, announcing that it plans to send 1.5 million AstraZeneca doses to Canada and 2.5 million to Mexico.
Why it matters: The vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University has not been approved in the US and the White House is increasingly criticized for being at doses that can be used elsewhere.
- The deal comes in the form of a loan, with the US now sending doses to Canada and Mexico with the expectation that they will return doses to the US later this year.
The big picture: The world has four main sources of coronavirus vaccines: China (33% of all doses produced), the US (27%), the EU (19%) and India (13%), according to data shared with Axios by Airfinity, a scientific information and analysis company.
- While China has exported about 60% of the vaccines it has produced – in part due to a low sense of urgency in China, where the virus is largely under control – the US has exported 0%, instead aiming to cover all US adults.
- India has exported 65% of its production by Airfinity so far, but the CEO of the country’s largest producer said last month that he was “tasked with prioritizing India’s enormous needs.”
- The EU has a heated debate on whether exports should be more strictly controlled, and regrets what it sees as an imbalance with the US and the UK