Washington: India is a major producer of vaccines for the world, the White House said, acknowledging the key role the country has played in the global supply of vaccines against COVID-19.
“Because of its incredible production capacity, (India) is a major exporter of vaccines,” Dr. Ashish Jha, the White House’s coronavirus response coordinator, told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday.
In response to a question, Dr. Jha said the QUAD partnership – the Strategic Security Dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and the US – on the coronavirus was essential to the Joe Biden administration.
“I think India is a major producer of vaccines for the world. I don’t mean just for India alone, it’s an essential thing,” he said at a White House press conference.
In defense of the Biden administration’s decision to deliver vaccines to the world, Dr. Jha said the US will continue to make them available to all low- and middle-income countries.
“There are about 100 countries that are eligible to receive free vaccines through COVAX – where we donate vaccines that are still available for donation,” he said. According to Dr., Every major variant of the yoke that hit the US came from abroad. “So the idea that we can kind of wall ourselves off and not be affected by what’s happening in the rest of the world is just naive,” he said.
“That’s not how transmissible viruses like this work. So even if you think about it from a very narrow self-interest, it’s very important that we vaccinate a large part of the world to help build such a vaccination program. But outside of self-interest, you know, America is a country that is deeply engaged in the world,” he added.
Dr. Jha argued that Biden has restored American leadership in global health in a way that is “very different from the previous president.”
“So for a whole host of reasons it’s very, very important that America continues to lead, €4.02 billion is a small investment to make to better protect Americans and better protect the world,” he said.