Covid-19: tens of thousands of doses of AstraZeneca unused in the United States

On Saturday, pharmaceutical giant AstraZenaca lowered the number of doses of its Covid-19 vaccine that it could deliver to Europe.

This is the second time this has happened since the start of the year.

The causes of these repeated delays: export problems.

Yet in the United States, many vials of AstraZeneca are stored in the group's warehouses and are not used.

The vaccine is not yet authorized in the United States

At the AstraZeneca plant in Ohio, 30 million doses are blocked and tens of millions more are just waiting to be bottled, warns the

.

Indeed, the vaccine of the Swedish-British pharmaceutical group has not yet been approved in the United States.

The company therefore requested authorization to export the unused doses.

Out of the question, answers the White House, which does not want to share its stock.

"There have been requests all over the world, of course, but we haven't promised doses to anyone, the president's priority is to make sure the American people are vaccinated," said the spokeswoman for the Presidency.

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Already 100 million doses injected in the country

The subject is debated within the White House: several advisers are in favor of sending doses abroad, to Europe or to Brazil.

And this week, Joe Biden opened the door to possible exports.

"If we have a surplus of vaccines, we will share it with the rest of the world," assured the US president.

But before that, the head of state wants to keep his promise: to have enough doses for all American adults by the end of May.

The vaccination campaign is therefore accelerating in the United States, where 100 million doses, all vaccines combined, have already been injected.

For the day of Friday alone, 3 million injections were carried out.