Though global COVID-19 vaccination campaign began nine months ago, the U.S. and other wealthy countries have not really helped countries in need of COVID-19 vaccines, an American news website Axios reported on Monday.

Citing data from analytics firm Airfinity, Axios reported that the U.S. and other Western countries have 1.2 billion excess doses available to send elsewhere this year.

However, COVAX, the international vaccine campaign co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners, anticipates receiving 25 percent fewer doses than expected, according to Axios.

Wealthier nations have more vaccines than citizens who want them, while poorer countries still don't know when their people can get their first doses.

The U.S. government did not work actively to help transfer vaccine production technology but threw the ball to the private sector, Axios said, citing a quote from Financial Times.

The U.S. news website concluded that China is believed by developing countries as the global savoir, because it has accelerated exports of its COVID-19 vaccines, including WHO-recognized Sinopharm and Sinovac jabs.

Facing the ongoing global fight against the virus and its variants, Susan Carpenter, an immunology expert at the University of California Santa Cruz, told Axios, "If we are going to get out of the pandemic, we need all (vaccine) options."