U.S. UNVEILS PLAN TO DONATE 25M COVID VACCINES

The United States has unveiled a plan to donate 25 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, with most of them going to South America, Africa, and Asia via the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

After coming under pressure to do more to distribute vaccines abroad, the Biden administration had promised last month it would share 80 million of its doses by the end of June. On Thursday, it outlined how the first 25 million would be allocated, an announcement that was made as G7 health ministers met in Britain to discuss the ongoing threat posed by the pandemic.

US President Joe Biden said in a statement that at least 75 percent of these doses — nearly 19 million — will be shared through COVAX, a World Health Organization-backed effort to deliver vaccines for the world's neediest people.

The remaining 6 million doses will be handed over directly to countries seeing surges, as well as close US allies.

These include Canada, Mexico, India, and South Korea.

"We are sharing these doses not to secure favors or extract concessions. We are sharing these vaccines to save lives and to lead the world in bringing an end to the pandemic, with the power of our example and with our values," Biden said.

Meanwhile, the vaccine equity challenge was top of mind at a G7 meeting of health ministers in Oxford, England on Thursday.

In the ancient university city, about 80 kilometers northwest of London, the ministers also discussed joint protection against future pandemics.

The location was chosen symbolically: Researchers at Oxford University developed a COVID-19 vaccine together with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

WEEKLY FEATURE : TRUEMONEY PHILIPPINES BUCKS THE COVID-19 CHALLENGE