India unlikely to get much out of first tranche of US vaccine donation

India is unlikely to get much out of the first tranche of Covid-19 vaccines the United States will send out to other countries.

President Joe Biden on Thursday stated that India, Canada, Mexico and South Korea and other US “partners and neighbours” as well as the nations experiencing Covid-19 surges would directly get “just over six million” doses out of the 25 million vaccines, which his administration would send out as the first tranche of the total 80 million jabs it had committed to send out to foreign countries by the end of this month.

Besides, according to a separate fact-sheet issued by the White House, India will also get a portion of the seven million doses of the vaccines the US would send out through the Covax, but would earmark for the Pacific Islands and 15 other countries in Asia.

Also read: Joe Biden announces international Covid-19 vaccine sharing plan

The Covax is an initiative of the World Health Organization, Gavi – The Vaccine Alliance and others to ensure equitable access to anti-Covid-19 jabs around the world.

The US decided to allocate through Covax 75% of the total 80 million doses of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines it would donate to other nations. Out of its first tranche of 25 million vaccines, it would send out 19 million through Covax, including approximately six million for South and Central America, seven million for Asia and five million for Africa.

India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Maldives, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Papua New Guinea, Taiwan, and the Pacific Islands are the nations, which will share the seven million doses the US earmarked to be sent out to Asia through the Covax.

New Delhi was hoping that a large share of the vaccines to be sent out by the US would come to India and partially help make up for the shortages of the jabs.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was on a tour to Washington DC last week when he held meetings with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and proposed an India-America vaccine partnership. He also discussed with the US officials about the Biden Administration’s decision to send out 80 million Covid-19 vaccines to foreign countries.

Also read: Not right time to talk about vaccine supply abroad: India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, however, is also continuing talks with the US companies, like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson, for import and local manufacturing of Covid-19 vaccines.

The Biden Administration a few weeks back announced that it would start sending out its stockpile of 60 million doses of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines developed by the Oxford University and the AstraZeneca plc to other countries. The US President, himself, said on May 5 that about 10% of the AstraZeneca vaccines in the possession of the American Government would be sent out to India, Brazil and other countries by July 4.

AstraZeneca has not asked for authorisation for use of its vaccine in the US, hence it is unlikely to be used over the next few months for inoculating the Americans. But unless the US Food and Drug Administration conducts a quality check on the vaccine made in plants in America, the Biden Administration would not be able to start sending out the doses to any foreign country.

Biden again said on May 17 that the US would send out an additional 20 million doses of the anti-Covid-19 vaccines, not just the ones developed by AstraZeneca, but also the ones from Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson’s.