India’s vaccine production, delivery ability will pull the world out of Covid-19 crisis: PM Modi

  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday India will pave the path for the rest of the world with its vaccine production and delivery capacity and pull humanity out of the crisis generated by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Your Excellency, even though the pandemic presented difficulties and its own set of challenges, India made sure that its pharmaceutical industries send essential medicines to more than 150 nations," Modi said while addressing the United Nations General Assembly’s 75th session.

“As the world’s largest vaccine producing nation, I want to assure the world community that India’s vaccine production and production delivery ability will help humanity tide over this crisis," the Prime Minister said in a pre-recorded speech in Hindi.

“We are now approaching Phase III of our clinical trials. India will also help cold chain and cold storage facilities of other nations as well," he added.

India has said more than four vaccines against Covid-19 are in advanced stages of pre-clinical trial in the country. The government is also closely tracking the progress of candidates being tested by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited and Ahmedabad-based Zydus Cadila. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is one of the frontrunners in the race for a Covid-19 vaccine in India. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has struck a production and clinical trials deal with AstraZeneca for the UK’s Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will begin its Phase III trials in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow and Gorakhpur. Serum Institute of India will also begin its Phase III trials of the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University at Sassoon General Hospital in Pune.

PM Modi also called for a stronger global response towards the Covid-19 pandemic. In his speech, he questioned the United Nations, “Where is the United Nations in this joint fight against the pandemic? Where is its effective response?"

India’s ability to develop and distribute a Covid-19 vaccine will be used to help the world, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “As the largest vaccine-producing country in the world, today I would like to give one more assurance to the global community,” Modi said Saturday in a pre-recorded video statement to the United Nations General Assembly, which is being held virtually this year. “India’s

Globally, more than 32.8 million people have been infected with Sars-CoV-2, which causes the coronavirus disease, of which 994,503 people have lost their lives. India has recorded 5,903,932 cases so far with 93,379 people dead.

He criticized the UN, though, for not providing an effective pandemic response and wondered how long India would be kept out of the decision-making process of the global body.

Modi said in August that India was ready to mass-produce COVID-19 vaccines when scientists gave the go-ahead.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres has been pushing for a "people's vaccine" that is available and affordable everywhere and expressed concern on Tuesday that some countries were "reportedly making side deals exclusively for their own populations."

"Such 'vaccinationalism' is not only unfair, it is self-defeating. None of us is safe until all of us are safe. Everybody knows that" he told the General Assembly

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told the General Assembly on Friday: "Whoever finds the vaccine must share it."

"Some might see short- term advantage or even profit," Morrison said. "But I assure you to anyone who may think along those lines, humanity will have a very long memory and be a very, very severe judge.

"Australia's pledge is clear: if we find the vaccine we will share it. That's the pledge we all must make," Morrison said.

Pope Francis told the United Nations on Friday that the poor and weakest members of society should get preferential treatment when a coronavirus vaccine is ready.

India, the world's second-most populous country after China, has recorded more than 5.8 million cases of COVID-19, second only behind the United States.

Its death toll as of this week was more than 90,000 and it has consistently reported the highest tally of daily cases anywhere in the world as a dense population and often rudimentary healthcare infrastructure hamper attempts to control the pandemic.