In phone call with Modi, Biden discusses sending Covid vaccines, other supplies

The US president said, “We’re sending immediately a whole series of help that he (Indian PM Narendra Modi) needs, including providing remdesivir”

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about sending Covid-19 vaccines to India at some stage. Biden said he also discussed sending other supplies such as raw materials required for making vaccines and therapeutics such as remdesivir, which would be shipped to India immediately.

US President Joe Biden removes his face mask as he arrives to deliver remarks on the administration's Covid-19 response outside the White House in Washington, DC. (REUTERS)

Referring to his phone call with Modi on Monday, the American president said, “We’re sending immediately a whole series of help that he (Modi) needs, including providing remdesivir.”

“We are sending the actual mechanical parts that are needed for the machinery they have to build a vaccine,” Biden said. “I’ve discussed with him, when we’ll be able to send actual vaccines to India.”

The Biden administration had pledged to send raw materials for the Covishield vaccine being made by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India, oxygen generators, storage containers, PPE, remdesivir doses and a team of public health experts.