Covid-19 crisis: India pins hope on more vaccine supply from the US

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar is on his way back from the five-day visit to the US, pinning hopes on ramping up supply of Covid-19 vaccine supply required for India’s mass inoculation programme.

Apart from discussion on matters related to United Nations Security Council (UNSC), the Quad, and climate change, Jaishankar and his counterpart Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed matters on vaccine manufacturing, procurement, delivery, and how India and the US can work on it together. However, the details on vaccine partnerships are yet to be revealed.

The US government promised to stand with India as it continues to fight the resurgence of the pandemic.  

Jaishankar’s visit to the US took place at a time when India was battling the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, with a near-collapsing healthcare system, and severe shortages of essential medical supplies and pharmaceutical items, including Covid-19 vaccines. India has also recorded the highest death toll since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Experts said that there is a substantial scope for collaboration between India and the US towards the healthcare sector, and particularly on vaccine supplies in the current scenario. "It is crucial for India to open up tested foreign vaccines to step up the vaccination drive in the country," Arpita Mukherjee, professor at Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) said.

The Centre on its part had recently announced that it is in talks with three global pharma manufacturers — Pfizer, Moderna and J&J — to supply vaccines in India.

The US had said it will share an additional 20 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with other countries, in addition to the 60 million AstraZeneca vaccines it has already committed. Currently, 60 million doses of AstraZeneca are still undergoing the control checks by the Food and Drug Administration and will be available soon.

Over the last one month, the US has been sending life saving supplies to India. The US government, companies as well as citizens have provided over $500 million towards Covid-19 relief supplies, including remdesivir, oxygen cylinders, N-95 masks, among others, to India.  

“Together with our Quad partners – Japan and Australia – we’re continuing to identify options for cooperation in the areas of vaccine manufacturing capacity in India, as well as Covid-19 vaccine administration and delivery across the Indo-Pacific region.  We continue to engage at the highest levels, including at the ministerial level conversation today, on global vaccine distribution and addressing worldwide shortages of critical inputs for vaccine production,” US Acting Assistant Secretary for South Asia Dean Thompson said in a press conference after Jaishankar’s meeting with Blinken.

Jaishankar also met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and business forums on economic and Covid-related cooperation between both countries.