The United States is reportedly in talks with Moderna to buy doses of the pharmaceutical company’s COVID-19 vaccine to donate to low-income countries, according to multiple reports.
The discussions were first reported by CNBC on Wednesday, citing a person familiar. According to the news outlets, the discussions could lead to a similar deal that was revealed earlier on Wednesday with Pfizer.
A Moderna spokesman told Bloomberg News that the company is interested in possibly providing additional doses for other countries, but didn’t provide any further details on discussions.
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The Hill has reached out to Moderna and the White House for comment.
News of the talks come after multiple news outlets reported that the U.S. plans to buy 500 million additional doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to donate to other countries.
President BidenJoe BidenWhite House announces major boost to global vaccine supply U.S. in talks to buy Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to send abroad: report Pentagon to consider authorizing airstrikes in Afghanistan if country falls into crisis: report MORE is expected to announce the deal during the Group of Seven summit in the United Kingdom this week.
White House national security adviser Jake SullivanJake SullivanU.S. in talks to buy Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine to send abroad: report Five things to watch on Biden’s first foreign trip Biden seeks to unite allies on China MORE declined to discuss specifics of the Pfizer-BioNTech deal on Wednesday, but said Biden would discuss steps the U.S. is taking to donate vaccine doses abroad on Thursday.
The White House has come under pressure to donate excess vaccine doses to countries that don’t have the same access to shots as wealthier nations.
The administration has already announced that it would make 80 million vaccine doses available globally by the end of June. Last week, it unveiled plans for distributing the first 25 million doses with the World Health Organization’s COVAX initiative and other countries that the U.S. chooses.
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