WASHINGTON, March 17, 2022 (BSS/AFP) - The United States has given more
than 500 million coronavirus vaccines to other countries since the jabs were
developed, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday in a statement
obtained by AFP.

   "The United States has now shared over 500 million safe and effective
Covid-19 vaccine doses, free of cost, to more than 110 countries and
economies around the world -- for the sole purpose of saving lives," Blinken
said.

   Washington aims to more than double that amount to 1.1 billion doses, as
the Covid pandemic persists around the globe.

   Blinken also said that since Covid-19 broke out more than two years ago,
the United States has provided close to $20 billion in health, humanitarian
and economic assistance to more than 120 countries to address the pandemic
and its impacts.

   Blinken cited examples of US-backed vaccination programs in Paraguay,
Zambia, Malawi and Thailand.

   In one, a US-supported program in northern Thailand produced educational
media and workshops in seven local languages to teach people how to protect
against coronavirus, Blinken said.

   "We have also invested and supported the expansion of regional Covid-19
vaccine manufacturing in Africa and Asia," he said.

   "This work is critical because this pandemic is not over. Many lives are
still at risk globally as countries contend with Omicron and we face the
possibility of new variants."