India to receive share of 80 million US vaccines through COVAX
The Biden administration is absolutely continuing with its commitment to help the government and the people of India emerge from this pandemic, State Department says...
INDIA will be receiving a share of the 80 million unused Covid-19 vaccines through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program that President Joe Biden has announced, according to a senior State Department official.
On June 2, President Biden announced that the US will allocate 75 percent - nearly 19 million of the first tranche of 25 million doses - of unused Covid-19 vaccines from its stockpile through the UN-backed COVAX global vaccine sharing program to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa.
The move is part of his administration’s framework for sharing 80 million vaccines globally by the end of June. According to a White House fact sheet, nearly 19 million vaccines will be shared through COVAX.
‘I don’t have the specific details on when the shipment of vaccines will be arriving in India. Of course, India will be in receipt of a share of those 80 million vaccines and through COVAX, I believe there were some six million vaccines destined for the region,’ State Department Spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a news conference on Wednesday (9).
Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines directed by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and the World Health Organisation.
‘We know that India has suffered tremendously with this pandemic and as we have done in the case of these vaccines, but also as we did even prior to this vaccine sharing announcement, we have demonstrated our commitment to work closely with our partners in India to help see the way out of this epidemic,’ he said.
In recent weeks, the US has so far supplied seven planeloads of life-saving supplies worth approximately $100 million. ‘This is also in addition to the tremendous generosity that we have seen from the private sector and the diaspora here in this country that has donated some 400 million additional dollars. So, that’s