Biden unveils plans to send 20 million doses of US approved COVID vaccine overseas

US President Joe Biden on Monday unveiled plans to provide 20 million doses of domestically approved COVID-19 vaccines to other countries by the end of next month, reiterating his pledge to turn his country into an "arsenal" of vaccines for the entire world.

It is the first time that the US has agreed to send coronavirus vaccines approved for use in the US to other countries. So far, the FDA has approved COVID-19 vaccines of Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson and Johnson for use in the United States.

"This means over the next six weeks, the United States of America will send 80 million doses overseas. That represents 13 percent of the vaccine produced by the United States by the end of June," Biden said.

The US earlier committed to providing 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to other countries, pending the outcome of a still-ongoing safety evaluation by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

"This will be more vaccines than any country has actually shared today -- five times more than any other country. More than Russia and China, which have donated 15 million doses," said the president.

Biden said the US will work with international organizations such as COVAX to ensure "equitable" delivery of US vaccines to other countries.

"We'll share these vaccines in the service of ending the pandemic everywhere. And we will not use our vaccines to secure favors from other countries," he said.

"Just as in World War II America was the arsenal of democracy, in the battle against COVID-19 pandemic our nation is going to be the arsenal of vaccines for the rest of the world," added the president.

The US move comes amid South Korea's request for the US to provide such vaccines under a swap arrangement that will allow the US to be paid back in full in vaccines.

Seoul is currently facing a temporary shortage of vaccines with most of its purchased shipments scheduled to start arriving later in the year.

The State Department earlier refused to provide details of what it called its "private" and "diplomatic" discussions with South Korea when asked by Yonhap if the United States was considering agreeing to such an arrangement with its Asian ally.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is set to visit Washington this week for his in-person summit with Biden on Friday.

The US has expressed its support for waiving intellectual property rights of COVID-19 vaccines, including those of US-developed vaccines, which would allow mass production of vaccines by any country with necessary capacity.

US officials, however, have noted the process of reaching a global consensus on such a waiver could take weeks, if not months.

Biden said his country will continue to donate extra supplies to other countries while working with other countries to vastly increase supply "in a way that creates jobs here at home and saves lives abroad."

"This will take longer than our immediate work to donate from the existing supplies, and we're going to be asking other nations to help shoulder the economic cost of this effort. But the consequences would be more lasting and more dramatic," he said. (Yonhap)