The Trump administration is defending its efforts to vaccinate Americans first, pointing to the significant U.S. taxpayer investment in developing the coronavirus vaccines at record speed.

"Help is coming. We will be providing vaccines around the world," a State Department official told ABC News Wednesday. "But at the end of the day, these products were paid for and often produced by Americans, and they should have the right to have access to them first."


But notably, the official also offered another key reason: "The United States is the epicenter of the pandemic. We are the country that has the most cases, the highest percentage of COVID rates. It is very important for us to make sure that Americans receive this vaccine and receive it first," the official said in an interview.

Under an executive order President Donald Trump signed Tuesday, the U.S. will begin providing vaccines overseas once the domestic demand has been satisfied.

The decision has been met by criticism in some corners, particularly the People's Vaccine Allowance, a collective including Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now and Oxfam, that on Wednesday accused wealthy nations of "hoarding" the vaccine and warned that nine out of 10 people in poor countries won't be vaccinated until 2022.

"The hoarding of vaccines actively undermines global efforts to ensure that everyone, everywhere can be protected from COVID-19," said Steve Cockburn of Amnesty. "Instead, by working with others to share knowledge and scale up supply, they could help bring an end to the global COVID-19 crisis."

But Trump made clear Tuesday that his priority is the American people, signing an order that said in part, "It is the policy of the United States to ensure Americans have priority access to free, safe, and effective COVID-19 vaccines."

While the details were slim during his signing ceremony, the State Department official said the plan, months in the works, is coming together and will be led by a committee of State Department, USAID and Department of Health and Human Services employees.