United States to help India's Biological E make 1 billion vaccine doses

The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. will help fund Indian manufacturer Biological E Ltd.’s efforts to manufacture at least one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.

The vaccines will be manufactured with “Stringent Regulatory Authorization and/or World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing, including Johnson & Johnson vaccines,” the U.S. agency said in a release Friday.

The announcement is part of the agency’s Global Health and Prosperity Initiative, under which it is working to increase manufacturing, production and distribution of vaccines, including Covid-19 vaccines.

The cooperation on boosting vaccine manufacturing capability was discussed by the leaders of the U.S., India, Japan and Australia in their first virtual summit on Friday.

Read more: Leaders of U.S., India, Japan, Australia Vow a Vaccine Increase

The so-called Quad group agreed to expand efforts to ramp up vaccine manufacturing in the region, including boosting India’s vaccine output. To help India reach its target, Japan is in talks to provide loans, according to a fact sheet provided at the meeting’s end.