U.S. ships nearly 500k COVID vaccine doses to Rwanda

Authored by reuters.com and submitted by goforth1457
image for U.S. ships nearly 500k COVID vaccine doses to Rwanda

Health and customs workers receive the first batch of vaccines against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at the Kigali international airport in Kigali, Rwanda March 3, 2021. REUTERS/Jean Bizimana/File Photo

WASHINGTON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The United States is sending nearly half a million doses of Pfizer Inc's (PFE.N) COVID-19 vaccine to Rwanda, including the first doses from the Biden administration's 500 million global pledge earlier this summer, the White House said on Tuesday.

"Today, we are shipping over 488,000 doses of Pfizer to Rwanda, including the first 100,000 doses from ⁦@POTUS⁩’ 500 million shots pledged and purchased this summer. This is just the beginning," White House spokesman Kevin Munoz said in a post on Twitter.

The move is part of the Biden administration's support for COVAX, the global vaccine sharing program with the World Health Organization to help distribute vaccines to poorer countries.

U.S. President Joe Biden in June said the United States would donate 500 million doses of Pfizer's shot, made with partner BioNTech SE (22UAy.DE), and officials have said they would start shipping out in late August. read more

In Rwanda, COVID-19 infections are decreasing with 584 average daily reported cases, 42% of its peak caseload reported on July 22. https://tmsnrt.rs/3yWz8pR

Biden administration health officials have said efforts to quell the novel coronavirus outbreak worldwide is key to ending the pandemic and preventing future problematic COVID strains, in addition to ongoing efforts to vaccinate people in the United States.

Reporting by Susan Heavey Editing by David Holmes

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Cichlidsaremyjam on August 17th, 2021 at 18:20 UTC »

I can't wait for the same people that won't take the vaccine here because of 5G or whatever start complaining that they are being shipped somewhere else.

CooperDoops on August 17th, 2021 at 17:35 UTC »

This is great to see. COVID is like climate change - even if (by some miracle) we get our own house in order, we're all screwed unless every other nation gets things under control too.

black_flag_4ever on August 17th, 2021 at 15:42 UTC »

They are gladly taking doses that our own citizens are refusing for “reasons.”