"Today, we will hit a major milestone in our global effort: 400
million vaccine doses shipped to 112 countries ... for free, no
strings attached," White House COVID-19 Coordinator Jeff Zients told
reporters at a briefing.
The latest batch includes 3.2 million doses of the Pfizer Inc and
BioNTech SE vaccine to Bangladesh and 4.7 million doses to Pakistan,
CNN reported earlier on Wednesday, citing a White House official.
The Biden administration had previously vowed to donate a second
tranche of 500 million doses to the COVAX global vaccine sharing
program, raising its total pledge to some 1.2 billion COVID vaccine
doses, with the latest batch expected to start shipping this month.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/graue_sda_042021.png)
Global health experts have said at least 5 billion to 6 billion
doses are needed by poorer countries to help protect them against
the coronavirus amid the ongoing pandemic.
Overall COVAX, backed by the World Health Organization and the
Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, has delivered more
than a billion doses to 144 countries and aims to achieve 70%
COVID-19 immunization coverage by mid-2022.
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2022/Jan/27/images/ads/current/debbiesfloral_lda_VALENTINES_2020.png) Health experts have criticized rich countries
for not doing enough to make COVID-19 vaccines
more accessible, singling out the United States
in particular for pushing booster shots for
fully vaccinated Americans while much of the
world's population awaits first shots.
Experts and leaders from developing nations have
also warned that vaccine hoarding by wealthy nations could lead to
the emergence of new concerning coronavirus variants.
The White House on Wednesday defended its efforts, saying it had
shipped more free doses than any other nation.
"Put America's leadership into perspective. We have shipped four
times more free doses to the world than any other country," Zients
told reporters.
(Reporting by Jeff Mason, Susan Heavey and Carl O'Donnell; editing
by Jonathan Oatis and Bill Berkrot)
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