Asia welcomes United States vaccine donations amid cold storage worries

The United States will spend $3.5 billion to buy and donate 500 million doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine to some of the world's poorest countries, it said on Thursday, urging other G7 nations to follow suit.

The vaccine donation - the largest ever by a single country - was announced before U.S. President Joe Biden meets leaders of the Group of Seven advanced economies in western England.

The 500 million doses are destined for the world's 100 poorest countries. A senior Biden administration official described the gesture as a "major step forward that will supercharge the global effort" with the aim of "bringing hope to every corner of the world." "We really want to underscore that this is fundamentally about a singular objective of saving lives," the official said, adding that Washington was not seeking favours in exchange for the doses.