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The vaccine prince.
May 8, 2021
India’s “vaccine prince” Adar Poonawalla rose to fame in 2020 when he became the only Indian billionaire to put his weight behind an international Covid-19 vaccine. But since then, he has made headlines for statements that are at times confusing and contradictory.
Poonawalla, CEO of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturing firm Serum Institute of India (SII), last year struck a deal with AstraZeneca to manufacture and stockpile its Covid-19 vaccine. These doses could be sold in India and to other countries under contracts with AstraZeneca. SII was also responsible for the India-specific bridging study for the shots to test its efficacy in the local population.
To help treat COVID-19 patients and protect front-line health workers in India, the United States has identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and personal protective equipment (PPE) that will immediately be made available for India
In a break from the America First policy, President Joe Biden’s administration is “working round the clock” to immediately send India raw material needed for making Covishield and other products needed in the fight against the COVID-19 surge overtaking the nation, according to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. Recalling the assistance sent by India to the US in the early phase of the pandemic last year, he told India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval in a phone call on Sunday that “the United States is working around the clock to deploy available resources and supplies”, Sullivan’s Spokesperson Emily Horne said. Sullivan told Doval that Washington “also is pursuing options to provide oxygen
US to provide medical supplies, vaccine raw materials to India 'immediately' - NSA Jake Sullivan spoke on the phone with NSA Ajit Doval, expressing deep sympathy for the people of India following the recent spike in COVID cases.
Read more about Covid-19: US agrees to send raw materials required by Indian vaccine makers on Business Standard. The United States is also pursuing options to provide India with oxygen generation and related supplies
As COVID-19 Spike Continues, Offers For Help and Solidarity From Governments Abroad
Earlier, the United States had indicated that it was not yet ready to loosen restrictions on the export of vaccine raw materials.
Family member wearing PPE performs last rites of a COVID-19 victim at Nigambodh Ghat crematorium, in New Delhi, Friday, April 23, 2021. Photo: PTI
World16 hours ago
New Delhi: With the graph of COVID-19 cases in India spiking relentlessly, China, France, Australia and Germany have made offers to help, even as the Ministry of External Affairs held meetings with vaccine industry representatives to look at the roadblocks in global supply chains.