India has informed the UN Security Council that it will gradually supply vaccines to the COVAX facility of the World Health Organisation and will undertake contractual supplies to various countries in a phased manner, as more than six million doses have been airlifted to nine countries under New Delhi’s “vaccine diplomacy.”
India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K Nagaraj Naidu said on Monday, “As the largest vaccine-producing country of the world, we are fulfilling our commitment to make our vaccine production and delivery capacity available for the benefit of the entire humanity.”
Speaking at the UN Security Council briefing on ‘Maintenance of international peace and security : Naidu said following up on the implementation of resolution 2532′ that two vaccines have already been granted approval for emergency use in India and about 300 million citizens are to be vaccinated in the first six months the country plans.
Resolution 2532 (2020), adopted in July 2020, expressed support for the Secretary-General’s appeal for a global ceasefire to help unite efforts to fight Covid-19 in the world’s most vulnerable countries.
Naidu said, several partner countries have been trained by India to strengthen their clinical capabilities, as well as to enhance their capacities for vaccine administration, “We have already airlifted more than 6 million doses to nine countries in Phase-I as grant assistance. Contractual supplies to various countries are also being undertaken in a phased manner. We will also gradually supply to the COVAX facility of the WHO.”
To ensure rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries irrespective of income levels COVAX is the global initiative.
Nearly 150 million doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford candidate are anticipated to be available in the first phase of 2021, via existing agreements with the Serum Institute of India (SII) and AstraZeneca, although last week, COVAX had announced that, pending WHO emergency use listings.
Naidu told the Council that India has helped more than 150 countries through urgent health and medical supplies.
About 15 million dollars for GAVI has been pledged by New Delhi, the Vaccine Alliance, and operationalised the Covid-19 Emergency Fund for its neighbours with an initial contribution of 10 million dollars.
“In the spirit of South-South cooperation, through the USD 150 million India-UN Development Partnership Fund, we have responded to member states’ requests for Covid-19 related assistance,” Naidu said.
Naidu underlined that while the pandemic continues to rage around the world, however, 2021 has started on a positive note while many countries have been initiating the vaccination process.
He, however, cautioned that “no one is safe, till everyone is safe. Our endeavor should be to work towards making the vaccine accessible on a universal, equitable and affordable basis.”
Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives have received India’s Covid-19 vaccines under grant assistance in sync with its “Neighbourhood First” policy.
The largest coronavirus vaccination drive has been started already in India under two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country.
Last week, Bangladesh and Nepal received Covid-19 vaccines from India.
India sent 150,000 doses of Covisheild vaccines to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives, while over 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines were provided to Bangladesh, about one million doses to Nepal. Myanmar received over one million doses and Sri Lanka 500,000.
