THE US is to send around 4 million vaccines to Mexico and Canada to aid with their fight against the pandemic.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki confirmed the news yesterday, with Canada expected to receive 1.5 million and Mexico to receive 2.5million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines.
The US has stockpiled an estimated 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine despite not having approved it yet, and Ms Psaki indicated that the US has around 7 million 'releasable' vaccines remaining, indicating that the EU may be able to avail of some stock.
Under the sharing plan, Mexico and Canada would send back the same amount of vaccines to the United States later in the year, The Irish Times reports.
The news comes a day after Taoiseach Micheál Martin met with President Joe Biden as part of the St Patrick's Day tradition between Ireland and the US, and Mr Martin was under pressure at home to ask about the possibility of sharing vaccines.
After the virtual meeting, the Taoiseach spoke to reporters and said the US will not know until the summer months whether it will be in a position to share its vaccines with Ireland.
He had been told by Mr Biden that the US "is facing similar logistical challenges to what we are all facing in terms of getting vaccinations".
The Taoiseach added that Joe Biden is "very anxious to get as many of his people vaccinated as possible" before they consider sharing the jabs with other countries.
