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US announces plan to share Covid-19 vaccines with India, others
It’s in addition to the $100mn worth of supplies such as oxygen converters, PPE and therapeutics already sent by the US govt to India.
The United States on Thursday announced it will send 6 million of the first lot of 25 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to India, Mexico, Canada and South Korea, saying “it’s only the beginning”.
The remaining 19 million doses will go to other countries through the World Health Organization-run Covax initiative for equitable global access to vaccines.
India will also get vaccines from the tranche going through Covax, as 7 million doses are earmarked for distribution in Asia (India and 15 other countries and entities).
Though country-specific allocations are not available at present, India is expected to be the largest beneficiary from this lot. This will be in addition to the $100 million worth of supplies such as oxygen converters, PPE and therapeutics already sent by the Biden administration, along with relief worth $400 million more from private sector companies and individuals.
“As long as this pandemic is raging anywhere in the world, the American people will still be vulnerable,” President Joe Biden, said, adding, “And the United States is committed to bringing the same urgency to international vaccination efforts that we have demonstrated at home.”
US VICE-PRESIDENT CALLS INDIAN PM
US vice-president Kamala Harris called Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel López Obrador, Guatemala’s President Alejandro Giammattei, and chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Keith Rowley to personally convey to them the US decision to send them vaccines, along with other countries.
Calls had been growing over past weeks and days to send India a generous consignment of Covid-19 vaccines in view of the devastating second wave of the pandemic. “So far, the country of over 1.3 billion has delivered first doses of Covid-19 vaccines to 12% of its population, including 3% who are fully vaccinated,” Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the US Senate, wrote in a letter to the president on Tuesday, adding, “I urge you to send a robust allotment of Covid-19 vaccine doses to India to help bring a swift end to this global crisis.”
THE SHARING FORMULA
President Biden has said the United States will share 80 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines with the rest of the world, including 60 million doses of AstraZeneca (called Covishield in India), which America had ordered but has no plans of using, and 20 million shots of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines that it can spare, because of its own rising number of vaccinations (more than 50% of Americans and 60% of the eligible population of 12 years of order, have received at least one dose).
At least 75% of these 25 million doses - nearly 19 million - will be shared through Covax, which is run jointly by WHO and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, according to a statement issued by President Biden. It will include about 6 million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean, approximately 7 million for South and Southeast Asia, and approximately 5 million for African. The remaining doses, just over 6 million, will be shared directly with countries “experiencing surges, those in crisis, and other partners and neighbours”, including Canada, Mexico, India, and the Republic of Korea.
Numbers in a factsheet issued separately by the White House were somewhat different, but people familiar with these developments pointed to President Biden’s statement as the final word. The factsheet said 19 million will be shared through Covax, and will go to Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and other CARICOM countries, as well as the Dominican Republic.
Nearly 7 million will go to Asia for distribution among India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, and the Pacific Islands.
About 5 million were set aside for Africa, to be shared in coordination with the African Union, and approximately 6 million will be “targeted” towards regional priorities and partner recipients, including Mexico, Canada, and the Republic of Korea, West Bank and Gaza, Ukraine, Kosovo, Haiti, Georgia, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, and Yemen, as well as for United Nations frontline workers.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the allocation formula was shaped by “factors” that included the goal of achieving global coverage, “surges and other specific urgent situations” and public health needs, and the aim to help as many countries as possible, that had requested vaccines, and neighbours.
“This is only the beginning,” Sullivan said, pointing to the US president’s commitment to share 80 million doses in all by the end of June. “This is a unique moment in history, and it requires American leadership, American science and ingenuity, American perseverance, and the world’s democracies to step up to the plate. Today, I’m proud to say that that effort is underway.”
