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President Joe Biden on Thursday formally announced U.S. plans to procure and donate 500 million Covid-19 vaccine doses while making his first overseas trip, as part of a speech steeped in the imagery of World War II and other eras defined by their need for urgent collective action. “This is a monumental commitment by the American people,” Biden said in St. Ives, England. “We’re a nation full of people who step up in times of need to help our fellow human beings, both at home and abroad. We’re not perfect, but we step up.” (Niedzwiadek, 6/10)

President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would begin shipping a half-billion donated doses of Pfizer Inc. coronavirus vaccines to countries in “dire need” in August, making good on a promise to lead the global campaign against the pandemic. Biden said Thursday the U.S. purchase and donation of Pfizer’s shots would be the largest of any single country so far, and that the vaccines would come “with no strings attached” -- a veiled criticism of Russia and China, which he’s accused of using vaccines as leverage in their foreign policy. (Wingrove and Jacobs, 6/10)

The leaders of the G-7 are expected to pledge a donation of 1 billion coronavirus vaccine doses to poorer nations this weekend as they try to ease concerns over vaccine nationalism. The “most-advanced” economies of the world — as the G-7 defines itself — have been criticized for not sharing more vaccines with countries that have more limited resources. The United States, for example, legislated that it should only send vaccines abroad after it reached a satisfactory level of vaccination within its own borders. The U.K. and the EU have also received similar criticism. (Amaro, 6/11)

A Group of Seven plan to donate 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to poorer countries lacks ambition, is far too slow and shows Western leaders are not yet up to the job of tackling the worst public health crisis in a century, campaigners said on Friday. (Smout and Holton, 6/11)