US Official: Asia Pacific Target Of Billion Doses Of Vaccine Could Be Met

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JAKARTA - President Joe Biden's head of Indo-Pacific policy said on Tuesday, June 8 that he was "relatively confident" the region's one billion dose vaccine production target by the end of 2022 would be met, despite the COVID-19 crisis in India, where the vaccine will be When asked at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security review if he expected a delay in the four-nation plan, which was announced at the White House in March and widely covered in the media, Kurt Campbell said Washington had consulted with India and others. "Obviously, this is a very difficult period for our Indian friends. The United States has tried to stand with Delhi and invite others, both in the private and public sectors, to support them," he said. Wednesday, June 9."Our discussions with our two partners in the private sector, as well as in government, showed that we --s thank goodness -- still in line with the plan for 2022." "I think we're feeling relatively confident as we head into 2022," he added. He also stressed that all over Asia and the world, even countries that have managed to deal with the virus well, are facing outbreaks caused by new variants. "I think we understand, the only effective way to fight this is through vaccine diplomacy. We trying to improve it more generally," he said.

The Quartet of the United States, India, Japan and Australia agreed at a summit in March that Indian drugmaker Biological E Ltd would produce at least one billion doses of the vaccine by the end of 2022. The doses would be shipped to countries Southeast Asia, Indo-Pacific, and other regions. US officials said that under the plan, the United States and Japan would help India produce vaccines developed by US drug companies Novavax Inc and Johnson & Johnson. The vaccine comes amid strong criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the domestic launch of a vaccine that accounts for less than five percent of the estimated adult population of 950 million. Indian government sources told Reuters in May that India was unlikely to resume exporting large quantities of the vaccine until at least October. On Tuesday, Indian officials and health experts welcomed the government's plan to give free injections to all adults, but warned that vaccinations should be mandatory. accelerated to prevent a spike in new infections.