WORLD LEADERS URGE G7 TO HELP VACCINATE THE POOREST
Over 200 world leaders, including former presidents, prime ministers and ministers have backed a campaign urging the G7 rich nations to help vaccinate the world’s poorest from low-income economies against Covid-19 by paying two-thirds of an estimated $66bn required.
A letter, seen by The Guardian newspaper ahead of the G7 summit to be hosted by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson in Cornwall starting this Friday, warns the leaders of the UK, the US, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada that fewer than 2% of people in sub-saharan Africa have been vaccinated against Covid-19.
It is the first time the G7 leaders are meeting since the start of the pandemic. The three-day summit will cover a range of issues, but focus on global recovery from Covid-19.
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third imported as well as locally made by at least half a dozen companies under licence) and most experts are convinced that vaccine supply will improve in the coming months, especially with the local production of Sputnik V, which India is currently importing.
The PM referred to this in his speech and said there were seven vaccines in various stages of development and three in final trials, including a nasal vaccine (being developed by Bharat Biotech, again), which, if approved, would significantly speed up the pace of vaccinations. Among the vaccines in late stage trials is one developed by Biological E, for which India has already placed an advance order for 300 million doses. Two vaccines are also being tested on children, the PM said.
The government has told the Supreme Court that it plans to vaccinate all eligible Indians by the end of this year, something that will require it to deliver 238 million doses a month, according to an HT analysis.
Responding to criticism of India’s vaccine strategy, Modi said that the government set up a vaccine task force as far back as April 2020, supported vaccine makers through trials and through funding, and planned a phased delivery starting with health care workers, something that helped them work without fear during the second wave.
Describing the coronavirus pandemic as a “once in a 100year” epidemic, the PM said he understood that many Indians had lost people to Covid-19, and that his sympathies were with them. The disease was “unprecedented in the modern world” but India fought it together, he added, “building hospitals, increasing ICU capacity, making ventilators, creating new health infrastructure…”
And then, he said, when, during the second wave, the country saw the kind of demand for medical oxygen that it had never seen before, it sourced liquid oxygen and concentrators from all parts of the world, deploying its navy and air force, using trains to move oxygen tankers, and working on a manifold increase in oxygen manufacturing capacity.
At a time such as this, Modi added, “politicking” isn’t good. It is important that states focus on the task at hand, he said – vaccinating everyone, including the last person in line. Some people have been consistently spreading misinformation about vaccines, he added, leading to fears and hesitancy among people. Such people, he added, are “playing with the lives of innocents”.
The Union government has repeatedly targeted opposition politicians for their comments on vaccines and said this could lead to hesitancy.
The Congress said the announcement marked yet another instance when the Modi government has done a “somersault” on the vaccination policy. “The people opposed the government’s policies, the Congress party opposed it, and Supreme Court bitterly reprimanded them and asked them to file an affidavit. Now, they have taken a third summersault. The policy is also flawed even now. Why should citizens of India be made to pay in the private sector? Do we make you pay for DPT injection or a pulse polio injection in the private sector?” said Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot said: “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should share details on which states made the demand of being able to buy vaccines for the 18-44 age group. To my knowledge, no state made such a demand... I am happy that the PM had to change his old decision keeping in view the public sentiments.”