Pfizer begins exporting vaccines made in US plant to Mexico: report

Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will begin exporting its coronavirus vaccine produced in a U.S. plant to Mexico after a Trump administration rule barring dose exports has expired, Reuters reported.

A deal that Pfizer made with the Trump White House last year barred the company from sending doses of its vaccine to other countries since it was made in the U.S., but that deal expired on March 31, a U.S. official told Reuters. 

The source also added that Pfizer will begin to send shots abroad as it takes up extra capacity in U.S. facilities. The company has already shipped more than 10 million doses of its vaccine to Mexico, making it the country’s largest supplier, according to Reuters. 

Mexico’s health ministry said this week that it received 2 million doses from the company and a million doses from Belgium, as well. 

The news comes one day after President Biden, during a speech in front of a joint session of Congress vowed that America will be an “arsenal of vaccination” for the rest of the world to fight the coronavirus. 

“As our own vaccine supply grows to meet our needs — and we are meeting them — we will become an arsenal of vaccines for other countries, just as America was the arsenal of democracy in World War 2,” Biden said Wednesday.

But the president added that this will not happen until “every American” has access to a vaccine. 

The U.S. has done well in its vaccination rollout, administering more than 240 million shots thus far. 

The Hill has reached out to the Department of Health and Human Services. 

In an email to The Hill, Pfizer said it was committed to making its vaccine available throughout the world.

“We are continuing to use our global supply chain to ship vaccine doses to governments, delivering on our commitments and ensuring a continued reliable and equitable rollout,” it said in a statement.

Updated April 30, 12:01 p.m.

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said that the U.S. itself was exporting Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine. The new version notes that Pfizer is exporting its vaccine to Mexico made in a U.S. plant.