The White House and federal health officials are debating sending millions of doses of AstraZeneca abroad, while the U.S. government awaits the safety release for the vaccine.
Senior management officials told The New York Times there has been intense debate among US officials over the fate of tens of millions of vaccine doses from the Swedish-British company that are stalled in factories in Ohio and Maryland amid requests for supplies from other nations that have already approved their use.
Some officials argue that the supply should go abroad, while others are not willing to give up, sources said to the Times.
AstraZeneca was also involved in the negotiations, and the company said at the time that it urged the United States to be attentive to requests from other countries.
“We understand that other governments may have contacted the US government about donating AstraZeneca doses, and we ask the US government to carefully consider these requests,” Gonzalo Viña, an AstraZeneca spokesman, told the Times.
The company asked the Biden government to send the doses to the European Union (EU), but an official told the Times that the government refused to do so.
The Times reported that some federal officials have pressured the government to make a decision in the coming weeks. Some suggested sending the doses to Brazil, where the coronavirus continues to devastate the population.
AstraZeneca vaccines have not been approved in the United States, and the company has not yet applied for emergency use authorization with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The Times report comes after Italy, with the support of the European Commission, allegedly blocked AstraZeneca from sending vaccines to Australia after the company reportedly failed to deliver the requested quantity of doses to the EU.
The results of the phase three test of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the United States are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, but it is not clear when after the results the vaccine would be approved for use.
The Hill contacted AstraZeneca and the White House for comment.