[ti:Biden: U.S. Will Double Donation of COVID-19 Vaccines to World]
[al:As It Is]
[ar:VOA]
[dt:2021-09-23]
[by:www.voase.cn]
[00:00.00]President Joe Biden said Wednesday that the United States is doubling its purchase of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccines, up to 1 million shots, to share with the world.
[00:14.68]Biden made the announcement at a COVID-19 meeting of world and business leaders and aid groups alongside the U.N. General Assembly.
[00:26.26]Speaking to the group over video conferencing, 
[00:29.41]Biden said, "We're not going to solve this crisis with half measures or middle of the road ambitions - we need to go big."
[00:38.67]The purchase of another 500 million shots brings the total U.S. vaccination guarantee to more than 1.1 billion through 2022.
[00:50.75]That is more than donations from the rest of the world combined.
[00:54.71]However, the latest U.S. donation is only a small part of what will be necessary to meet a goal of vaccinating 70 percent of the world's population by next September.
[01:08.72]Biden added that the U.S. would also increase the amount of money given to groups and nations that are administering the shots.
[01:18.70]He also urged other wealthy nations to donate, rather than sell, the shots to poorer nations.
[01:27.72]And the European Union said the group would donate another 500 million vaccines, a small increase from its earlier plans.
[01:39.31]Some have criticized the plans for being too little.
[01:43.96]Many people in poor nations have not received their first shot while the U.S. is considering additional booster shots to millions of Americans.
[01:56.29]About 6 billion COVID-19 vaccines have been administered worldwide to 43 percent of the world's population in the past year. 
[02:06.86]But many poor nations are struggling to vaccinate even those with the most risk of infection.
[02:15.07]Some have yet to vaccinate more than 2 percent of their population.
[02:20.15]Colombian President Iván Duque said Tuesday at the United Nations, "The existing gaps between nations with regard to the vaccination process are unheard of."
[02:34.31]The World Health Organization (WHO) says only 15 percent of promised donations of vaccines from rich countries have been delivered.
[02:45.37]The health agency has said it wants countries to meet the sharing goals "immediately." 
[02:52.43]The WHO especially wants to make the shots available for programs that benefit poor countries and Africa.
[03:01.28]COVAX, the U.N.- supported program to ship vaccines to all countries, has struggled to produce and supply vaccines. 
[03:11.04]The WHO has appealed to wealthy countries to delay booster shots so vaccines can be made available to developing countries.
[03:21.39]As of Tuesday, COVAX had shipped more than 296 million vaccines to 141 countries.
[03:31.15]To deal with the supply problem, Biden said the U.S. would work with drug companies and other nations to produce vaccines in their own country.
[03:42.97]I'm Jill Robbins.
