U/S/ Joe Biden

By The Canadian Press

U.S. working on plan to ‘lend’ doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to Canada, Mexico

Mar 18, 2021 | 1:19 PM

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The White House says it is working on a plan to lend 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Canada and an additional 2.5 million doses to Mexico.

Press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the effort Thursday, but emphasized that the details have not been fully worked out.

The U.S. currently has 7 million “releasable” doses of the vaccine, which has yet to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration, she said.

“Balancing the need to let the approval process play out … with the importance of helping stop the spread in other countries, we are assessing how we can loan doses,” Psaki told a media briefing.

“It is not fully finalized yet, but that is our aim and what we’re working toward with Canada and Mexico.”

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The loan would be in lieu of a future exchange of doses from Canada and Mexico, Psaki said — either of the AstraZeneca vaccine or a different one.

Last week, Canadian provinces began administering 500,000 doses of the version of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced at the Serum Institute of India.

The federal government has purchased 20 million doses directly from AstraZeneca, but did not have a timeline for when they would arrive.

On Wednesday, the White House confirmed Canada asked the Biden administration for help in procuring vaccines, but repeated it first wants to ensure every American who wants to can get their shots.

As well, a member of Congress says it’s vital for the U.S. to help Canada reach vaccine ‘parity’ in order to get their shared border back open.

New York Rep. Brian Higgins is cheering news of a White House plan to lend Canada 1.5 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Higgins has been on a crusade in recent weeks to convince President Joe Biden to come up with a plan to reopen the Canada-U.S. border.

He is among several members of Congress consulted by the Wilson Center in a study of the economic impact of the border closure.

Members of that task force are expected to issue some of their preliminary findings later today.

Higgins wants the two countries to expand what they consider to be “essential travel” and to develop a system that would allow people who have been vaccinated to cross the border.