Biden admin criticised for not releasing surplus COVID-19 vaccines to India

The Biden administration has come under criticism from several quarters including from members and supporters of the Democratic party for not releasing surplus COVID19 vaccines to India when the country is experiencing its worstever public health crisisIndianAmerican Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi urged the Biden administration to release doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to countries currently experiencing the deadly surge in COVID19 cases When people in India and elsewhere desperately need help we cant let vaccines sit in a warehouse we need to get them where theyll save lives he saidWe are currently sitting on close to 40 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the US stockpile a stockpile which were not using and which weve already opened to combat COVID19 in Mexico and Canada he said said To curb the spread of this virus internationally and to protect public health and our international economy the US needs to get these vaccines out the door now he saidI respectfully but strongly call on the Biden administration to release millions of AstraZeneca vaccine doses to countries hardest hit by the spread of COVID19 including India Argentina and potentially others Krishnamoorthi said A record singleday rise of 346786 coronavirus cases on Saturday pushed Indias tally of infection to 16610481 while active cases crossed the 25lakh markThe Biden administration is losing any goodwill it gained in the last few months Tanvi Madan from the Brookings Institute said in a tweet Indian public has now seen tweets from Pakistani PM amp Iranian FM had offers of help from Russia amp China ie even a country it has had hostilities with It has not heard from any senior US officials The Biden administration is losing any goodwill it gained in the last few months Madan saidIndianAmerican Sonal Shah who was part of the Biden campaign tweeted that she has lost five family members in India The COVID crisis in India is real and it will become a humanitarian crisis if it isnt already one Our US government needs to do something This will quickly spread to other countries Shah saidJeff M Smith from The Heritage Foundation thinktank said that it is well worth remembering that when New York and other parts of America were facing a public health emergency in late 2020 the Indian government removed an export ban on the active pharmaceutical ingredient hydroxychloroquine despite stark criticism at homeThe number of surplus vaccines availableafter every American has been vaccinatedis estimated to be around 70 millionUS has adequate supplies and more It is now time to relax the prioritisation measures and products that fall under the purview of the DPA Defence Production Act Smith saidPresident Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump had invoked the wartime DPA that leaves US companies with no option but to give priority to the production of COVID19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment PPEs for domestic production to combat the deadly pandemic in America the worsthit nationIndias coronavirus surge could collapse its health system The US can help wrote Ashish K Jha a top American public health expert in an oped in The Washington Post It is time for the United States the worlds oldest democracy to come to the aid of this key global ally he wrote in an oped The Biden administration must clear the path of sending our excess supply of vaccines to India and other countries in crisis he saidOnly the United States has the capacity resources and technical knowhow to bend the curve of Indias catastrophic second wave of disease he said The faster we assist our ally the more lives will be saved One democracy coming to the aid of another in this time of crisis is exactly what the world needs now It will be good for India It will be good for the United States And it will make the world a safer place Jha wroteGita Gopinath chief economist of the International Monetary Fund said that she is deeply disturbed by the exploding health crisis in India The situation in India is desperate said Dr Audrey Truschke Associate Professor of South Asian history at Rutgers University The US should release excess supplies to help meet this humanitarian crisisWe should help ease human suffering she saidBiden ran his whole campaign on restoring the soul of our nation and now he can either actively help the crisis in India or stick with Big Pharma You might think all that soul talk would weigh on him tweeted Ryan Grim DC bureau chief at The Intercept Pretty sure there was an America First candidate on the ballot and he did not win he saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever