WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States plans to buy hundreds of millions of additional doses of the Pfizer Inc COVID-19 vaccine to donate around the world, The Washington Post reported on Friday, citing two unidentified people familiar with the deal.
The purchase was to be announced early next week to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, the sources said on condition of anonymity.
President Joe Biden has stressed the importance of a global vaccination campaign as a way to defeat the virus and the United States has planned a virtual COVID-19 summit on the sidelines of the General Assembly meeting.
The United States is pushing global leaders to endorse its targets for ending the COVID-19 pandemic, including ensuring 70% of the world’s population is vaccinated by the 2022, according to a draft U.S. document viewed by Reuters.
Details of the deal were not final, the Post reported.
Comment from the White House and Pfizer were not immediately available.
(Reporting by Doina Chiacu;Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
