India, the world's factory for anti-Covid vaccines
Indian Ambassador to France Jawed Ashraf.
© Embassy of India
Text by: Heike Schmidt Follow
5 mins
India, the second most contaminated country with Covid-19 in the world, is preparing to become the largest supplier for vaccines.
The country could in particular provide a large part of the serums intended for developing countries, as the Indian ambassador to France, Jawed Ashraf, explained in an interview with RFI.
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RFI: In a telephone conversation this week, your Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron
agreed to improve access to anti-Covid vaccines.
However, today, rich countries have already captured 53% of the most promising vaccines.
India, the world's leading vaccine producer, will it be the vaccine factory for poor countries
?
Jawed Ashraf:
I think the biggest global challenge in the years to come will be to ensure that vaccines are available, affordable and accessible to all and that they are not just for the wealthy.
On the occasion of the G20, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised that India will do everything possible to make anti-Covid vaccines accessible to all.
Our production capacities will therefore be used for universal access.
Our vaccines are produced at a very low cost and we will share them with other countries.
The Serum Institute of India, the world's number 1 vaccine, already produces 60 million doses per month of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine and promises that half of its production will be reserved for low-income countries, at $ 3 per dose. When will the export start
?
And who will be the first countries to benefit from it
?
As soon as the vaccines are officially approved and authorized locally, they will be channeled through our own development assistance programs to our neighbors and Africa.
In
Africa
, we are present in 47 of the 54 countries.
Of course, we will have to set priorities, and we will work for this with our partners through multilateral mechanisms, among which France, Germany and other European countries play an important role.
We will choose the destination countries together.
It will also depend on the health emergencies of each country.
►
To listen and read also: The first vaccines against Covid-19 difficult to deploy in India
Mass production has already started this summer, well before the end of clinical trials.
Will these “
made in India
”
vaccines be safe
?
Unicef already buys 60% of its vaccines in India.
25% of all vaccines produced in the world are made in India.
Obviously, we respect the most rigorous standards.
No compromise will be made.
We are not in a race with any other country to arrive first.
We don't want to make huge sums of money either.
I would also remind you that India has extensive experience in vaccination.
Each year, we administer 650 million doses of vaccine to vulnerable people, including 100 million children and 30 million pregnant women.
I am sure our partners will trust us.
During the onset of the pandemic, China conducted true "
mask diplomacy
"
- will there be Indian vaccine diplomacy
?
I do not want to comment on the strategies employed by other countries.
Our vaccines will neither be a geopolitical tool nor a matter of national pride.
During the onset of the Covid crisis, we supplied missing drugs to 150 countries, such as hydroxychloroquine or paracetamol.
We did not brag about it.
If India did not make its pharmaceutical infrastructure available, we would be accused of being insensitive to global needs.
India will play a crucial role, as we are able to manufacture vaccines in bulk, at low cost and of good quality.
The “Indian Serum Institute” will produce 200 million doses for the international Covax program.
We see this as our contribution to the overall effort.
►
To read also: India: the Covid-19 would have infected nearly 50% of the inhabitants of the center of New Delhi
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