India at UN says will ramp up production capacity as new Indian vaccines come on stream

United Nations, October 9

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India has informed the UN that it will ramp up its production capacity as new Indian vaccines come on stream, emphasising that the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open as Covid vaccines need to reach every corner of the globe.

India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador TS Tirumurti on Friday said India had provided medical-related assistance and subsequently, vaccines to numerous countries all over the world.

“We meet at a time when the Covid crisis is nowhere near the end. However, with the introduction of vaccines, there is hope that we will finally be able to turn the corner,” he said while speaking at the UN General Assembly General Debate of the Second Committee on ‘Crisis, Resilience and Recovery – Accelerating Progress towards the 2030 Agenda’.

“As Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi mentioned, we will resume this and work closely with other partners to end this pandemic. For this, the supply chains of raw materials must be kept open. We will ramp up production capacity as new Indian vaccines come on stream,” Tirumurti said.

India will resume the export of surplus Covid vaccines in the fourth quarter of 2021 under the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme and to meet its commitment to the COVAX global pool.

The government had stopped the export of Covid vaccines after the second wave of the pandemic hit the country in April. India has exported over 66 million vaccine doses to nearly 100 countries through grants, commercial shipments and the COVAX facility.

During his address to world leaders at the high-level General Assembly session last month, Modi had said that India is engaged in vaccination development and manufacturing despite limited resources.

India’s digital vaccine delivery platform CoWIN has supported its vaccine drive, Tirumurti said, adding that Modi has announced that India has offered this CoWIN platform to the world as a global public good. PTI