In UK in first foreign trip, Biden to announce vaccine plan

London: Embarking on the first overseas trip of his term, President Joe Biden is eager to reassert the United States on the world stage, steadying European allies deeply shaken by his predecessor and pushing democracy as the only bulwark to rising forces of authoritarianism.

Biden has set the stakes for his eight-day trip in sweeping terms, believing the West must publicly demonstrate it can compete economically with China as the world emerges from the coronavirus pandemic.

Shortly before arriving at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, where Biden was to speak to U.S. troops, people briefed on the matter confirmed that the Biden administration had brokered an agreement with Pfizer to purchase 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to be donated to 92 lower income countries and the African Union over the next year.

Two hundred million doses – enough to fully protect 100 million people – will be shared this year according to two people briefed on the matter, with the balance to be donated in the first half of 2022.