India is developing new vaccines and also ramping up production capacity of existing vaccines which will enable it to supply doses to other countries as well, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at the Global Covid-19 summit on Wednesday.
“As our production increases, we will be able to resume vaccine supply to others, too. For this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open,” the Prime Minister said.
Backing US President Joe Biden’s statement on increasing vaccine supply to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic, PM Modi said, “With our Quad partners, we are leveraging India's manufacturing strengths to produce vaccines for the entire Indo-Pacific region.”
PM Modi said, “two indigenously developed vaccines have received Emergency Use Authorization in India, including the world's first DNA-based vaccine. Several Indian companies are also involved in licensed production of various vaccines.”
He said that earlier this year, India-made vaccines had been shared with 95 other countries, and with UN peace-keepers.
PM Modi said India's pharmaceutical industry has produced cost-effective diagnostic kits, drugs, medical devices, and PPE kits. These are providing affordable options to many developing countries. India has shared medicines and medical supplies with over 150 countries, he added.
At the same time, he thanked the world leaders for the solidarity and support extended to India when the country was going through a second wave of Covid-19.
PM Modi said India is now running the world's largest vaccination campaign and over 200 million Indians are now fully vaccinated. This has been enabled through the use of our innovative digital platform called CO-WIN, he explained.
“In the spirit of sharing, India has made CO-WIN and many other digital solutions available freely as open-source software,’ he said.
The Prime Minister also pointed out that India and South Africa have proposed a TRIPS waiver at the WTO for COVID vaccines, diagnostics and medicines. This would enable rapid scaling up of the fight against the pandemic, he added.
PM Modi also emphasised the need to focus on addressing the adverse economic effects of the pandemic. “To that end, international travel should be made easier, through mutual recognition of vaccine certificates,” he pointed out.
The statement assumes importance in the backdrop of Britain not recognising India’s vaccination certificates in a policy that is seen as discriminatory.
Also read: Quad partnership is on track to produce 1 billion vaccine doses in India, Biden tells world leaders
