India's COVID vaccine manufacturing capacity has potential to be game changer: US State department

The US State Department has said boosting India’s manufacturing capacity of Covid-19 vaccines has the potential to be a game-changer beyond boundaries.
A healthcare worker administers Covid vaccine on Wednesday. (Photo | EPS/Parveen Negi)
A healthcare worker administers Covid vaccine on Wednesday. (Photo | EPS/Parveen Negi)

NEW DELHI: The US State Department has said boosting India’s manufacturing capacity of COVID-19 vaccines has the potential to be a game-changer beyond boundaries.

"It is important to us because India has suffered immensely from the outbreak. Virtually, no element of Indian society has been left untouched by this horrible scourge. That is why we have spoken of the focus on increased manufacturing in India," State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

"The increased manufacturing capacity in India, the volume of capacity has the potential to be a game-changer well beyond India’s borders. And that’s precisely why this arrangement was reached and announced in the context of the Quad," Price added.

Price’s comments come on a day when the Joe Biden administration lifted the Defense Production Act on three vaccines in a bid to relieve the stress on the supply chain. The lifting of the Act would mean that raw materials for vaccine production would be more easily available.

Speaking on the aid from the US to India, Price said contributions from government and private sectors has been around half a billion dollars. Meanwhile, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that US President Biden had made a commitment that Washington will give vaccines to India. 

"The President made a commitment to ensure that India received doses and giving them, not just an allocation under the regional portion of this, through Covax, but an additional allocation from our discretionary portion was something that he wanted to do," Sullivan said.

US President Biden had on Thursday said the US will allocate 19 million of the first tranche of 25 million doses of vaccines from its stockpile through COVAX to countries in South and Southeast Asia as well as Africa.

Ambassador expects big chunk of vaccines

Indian ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu said New Delhi will be a significant recipient of vac-cines announced as a part of the Joe Biden administration's Global Strategy.

"India will be a significant recipient of US vaccines as India has been included in both categories in the allocations announced - direct supply to neighbours and partner countries, and under the COVAX initiative," he  said.

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