Washington (AFP)

US President Joe Biden on Monday announced the dispatch of 20 million additional doses of Covid-19 vaccines to third countries, insisting that the approach of the United States was different from that of China and Russia.

Criticized for having delayed sharing their vaccines, the United States assured that the pace would now accelerate significantly.

"Today, I am announcing that we will share Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson doses with the rest of the world," announced the tenant of the White House, referring to the three vaccines to which the American health authorities have, at this day, given the green light.

This announcement brings to 80 million the total number of vaccine doses promised by the world's leading power since the start of the pandemic.

"This will make more vaccines than any country has ever shared, five times more than any country," insisted Joe Biden, while assuring that he intended to stay away from "vaccine diplomacy "used according to him by Beijing and Moscow.

"There is a lot of talk about Russia and China using vaccines as a way to increase their influence around the world," he continued.

"We want to set an example with our values ​​(...) We will not use our vaccines to obtain concessions from other countries".

If he insisted that it was "the right thing" to do, the 46th American president also put forward the well understood interest of the United States.

"We know that America will never be completely safe until the pandemic is under global control," he said, citing in particular the possibility of the appearance of new variants.

Joe Biden in particular showed his willingness to work within the international Covax system, which should allow the least developed countries to have access to precious doses.

- "Disinformation" and "manipulation" -

For Tom Hart, boss of the NGO ONE, the White House announcement is "a welcome step" in the right direction, but there is still a long way to go

"If vaccination in rich countries is accelerating, less than 1% of doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines have been administered to people living in low-income countries," he said.

Asked about the countries which would benefit from these American vaccines, Jen Psaki, spokesman for the White House, remained evasive, simply promising details on the allocation criteria "in the coming days".

Washington has pledged to provide other countries with 60 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, but AstraZeneca has not yet received the green light from US health authorities and shipments have therefore not started. .

At the end of April, the European Union strongly denounced the attitude of Moscow and Beijing on this issue.

The "vaccine diplomacy" carried out by the two countries "is accompanied by efforts of disinformation and manipulation aimed at undermining confidence in vaccines made in the West," she accused in a report.

Taking stock of the situation in the United States, Joe Biden also welcomed the spectacular improvement recorded in recent weeks.

"The fight against this virus is not over (...) but every day the light at the end of the tunnel is brighter", he stressed.

"For the first time since the start of the pandemic, Covid cases are down in all 50 states," he added, adding that 60% of American adults had now received at least one injection.

© 2021 AFP