The American government will begin shipping half a billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine to 100 countries in need later this month.
The deliveries complement the 110 million cans that the American government has donated to more than 60 countries.
This means that the US has donated more vaccine than all other countries combined, said President Joe Biden in a speech in the White House.
Most of the deliveries were distributed via the Covax global vaccination platform, some in cooperation with the African Union.
Winand von Petersdorff-Campen
Business correspondent in Washington.
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What the government attaches importance to: No consideration was asked for the deliveries.
"We even give vaccines to countries that we have problems with." The goal is to increase the global vaccination rate, prepare countries for outbreaks and protect medical staff and vulnerable parts of the population.
"The United States will not use the vaccines to secure favors from other countries," said a White House statement.
The distribution of the vaccine doses is based on the number of cases, death rates and hospital occupancy by coronavirus patients.
Vaccination rates and the country's ability to store and administer vaccines also play a role in the distribution key.
The largest recipient countries are Indonesia with eight million cans, Colombia, the Philippines, Nigeria, South Africa, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Mexico with four million cans and more. Canada is the only rich country that gets shipments from the United States. According to the White House, Canada has received 2.5 million doses.
In his speech, Biden strongly advocated that every American should be vaccinated. 90 million Americans eligible for vaccination have not yet been vaccinated. The data situation is clear: Almost all deaths occurred among unvaccinated people, vaccinated people almost never have to go to hospital and are less likely to get sick. Highly vaccinated states like Vermont and Maine had few new cases, while the southern states had the highest number of cases with their low vaccination rates. Biden pointed out that Florida and Texas alone are responsible for a third of the new cases of infection. "People are dying who shouldn't die." In the last few days, however, some southern states have caught up.
Biden had words of praise for the fact that three states paid a hundred dollars for each vaccination, increasing the number of daily vaccinations by 25 percent. Meanwhile, he announced that federal officials would extend the mask requirement for unvaccinated persons to employees of suppliers and service providers who worked for the government. Biden thanked Google, Walmart, Disney and the meat company Tyson for demanding vaccinations from their employees. He criticized the laws in seven Republican-ruled states that prohibit companies and local governments from making protective masks or vaccinations mandatory. In Texas, according to Biden, professors and teachers can be fined for requiring their students to wear a protective mask.
It's not about politics, it's a matter of life and death, warned Biden. He emphasized that there was a vaccine for every American. It is now in the American interest to help other countries get the virus under control.