President Joe Biden announced Monday his plan to send up to 80 million coronavirus vaccines to the rest of the world in the next six weeks.
“No ocean is wide enough, no wall is high enough to keep us safe,” Biden said while giving a speech at the White House.
The president said it was important to help the world beat the coronavirus after the United States had secured enough vaccine supplies for all Americans over the age of 12.
“It’s the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. It’s the strong thing to do,” he said.
The United States will offer Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca vaccines to help the world fight the virus, Biden said.
“Beating this pandemic globally is beyond the capacity of any one nation, even the United States,” he said, calling for American leadership to heal the world.
Biden said his administration would act as the “arsenal of vaccines” for the world, just as previous generations fought World War II.
“Just as democracies led the world in the darkness of World War II, democracy will lead the world out of this pandemic, and America will lead those democracies,” he said.
The president boasted that the number of vaccines sent overseas was five times more than any other country.
“You know, there’s a lot of talk about Russia and China influencing the world with vaccines,” he said. “We want to lead the world with our values.”