"We Hold Unused Vaccines"... AZ Vaccine Identified
Promise to Supply 1.5 Million Doses to Canada, 2.5 Million to Mexico
Expected to Use Stored AZ Vaccines for Vaccine Diplomacy
[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] U.S. President Joe Biden announced that the United States could send additional AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccines to Canada, which have not been approved for use in the U.S. and are currently being stockpiled. Previously, the U.S. government promised to send AZ vaccines to neighboring countries such as Canada and Mexico but has not used the AZ vaccine domestically due to concerns over blood clot side effects and has also halted additional production. It is expected that surplus AZ vaccines will be used for vaccine diplomacy with other countries in the future.
According to foreign media including the Associated Press on the 21st (local time), President Biden had a phone call with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. At a press conference held that day, President Biden revealed the contents of the call with Prime Minister Trudeau, stating, "We could send more vaccines to Canada," and added, "We currently have vaccines that are not in use, and these can help other countries."
Canada's CBC reported, "The vaccines that President Biden said could be sent additionally refer to the AZ vaccines that Canada is currently administering, although they have not been approved for use in the U.S.," and noted, "Last month, the U.S. government promised to send 1.5 million doses of the AZ vaccine to Canada." Previously, the U.S. government had restricted exports of AZ vaccines ordered by the Canadian government due to vaccine shortages, but as the vaccination rate among adults aged 18 and over in the U.S. surpassed 50%, the export restrictions were lifted.
According to the U.S. political media outlet Politico, the U.S. government also promised last month to send 2.5 million doses of the AZ vaccine to Mexico, which is known to be part of an agreement conditioned on Mexico strengthening border immigration enforcement. Mexico announced that it would deploy an additional 9,000 military personnel to the border with Guatemala. Accordingly, there is speculation that the U.S. government will continue to use AZ vaccines for vaccine diplomacy.
Previously, the U.S. ordered 300 million doses of the AZ vaccine last year, but due to reports of blood clot side effects and an incident at a U.S. contract manufacturing plant where vaccine components were mixed, domestic production was halted and approval for use was not granted.
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