US announces Rs 185 crore financial support for Covid-19 vaccination in India

The United States on Wednesday announced an additional financial assistance of $25 million (Rs 185 crore) to support the Covid-19 vaccination programme in India.

After a meeting with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in New Delhi, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced the additional financial assistance to support vaccine supply chain logistics and campaign against vaccine hesitancy in India.

“The US support will help save lives by strengthening vaccine supply chains across India,” Blinken said during a joint news conference with Jaishankar.

They, however, did not reveal if they had any discussion on the vaccines allocated for India out of the 80 million doses the US had promised to donate from its own stockpile to other countries. The US already started despatching the vaccines to several countries, including Pakistan, Bangladesh and others in the neighbourhood of India. India, however, did not receive any Covid-19 vaccine from the US so far, because Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government could not yet take a call on the issue of indemnity.

Blinken had last week told a TV channel that the US had millions of Covid-19 vaccine doses ready to be dispatched to India once the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government would complete the necessary legal process.

“We focus today on expanding vaccine production to make it globally affordable and accessible. We also discussed travel challenges resulting from Covid-19,” Jaishankar said after his meeting with Blinken on Wednesday.

The US Agency for International Development stated that the it would partner with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Union government of India as well as the State governments to support vaccine supply chain logistics, address misinformation and vaccine hesitancy and train healthcare workers to deliver vaccines safely and effectively across India. The USAID will also collaborate with key stakeholders, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UNICEF, the World Health Organization, and the GAVI – the Vaccine Alliance to promote equitable vaccine delivery and strengthen pandemic preparedness.

The USAID since March 2020 allocated more than $226 million (about Rs 1,670 crore) in Covid-19 aid to India, including more than $100 million (about Rs 740 crore) to support India’s response to the recent surge and more than $50 million (about Rs 370 crore) in emergency supplies. “The vaccination efforts in India and countries around the world over the coming months are critical to stopping the threat of new Covid-19 variants. The United States’ support will boost India’s vaccination efforts and help save lives," Blinken said.