The Biden administration is quietly pressuring India to restart vaccine exports with plans to offer a higher profile role for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an upcoming COVID-19 world summit in New York if he agrees to release vaccines soon, according to sources with direct knowledge of told Axios high-level discussions.
Why it’s important: India is the largest vaccine manufacturer in the world. In March, Modi stopped exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, one of the cheapest on the market, because the virus ravaged its own population.
- Convincing Modi to renew the supply of vaccines to the world, through the global vaccination organization COVAX, is an important part of the Biden administration’s strategy to mitigate the international spread of the virus.
- Vaccinating most of the developing world, as soon as possible, is in the vital interest of the United States, because the uncontrolled spread of the virus inevitably produces more dangerous variants.
An administration official acknowledged having discussed vaccine exports but it was denied that they are tied to Modi’s upcoming involvement.
- “We have been periodically communicating with [the] the government of India through bilateral and multilateral channels to discuss the supply of vaccines and inquire about the timing of exports, and these talks are not tied to a specific summit or engagement, ”the northern official said. American on condition of anonymity.
The background story: The United States itself effectively banned its own vaccine exports for months until they had enough supply for all Americans. He has also reserved hundreds of millions of doses for the promoters, which complicates his position as an advocate of dose delivery.
- The Modi government faced internal criticism for allowing the export of millions of doses before the onset of an unforeseen second wave.
- Now, six months later, more than half of India’s eligible population has received at least one shot, according to official data, making it more enjoyable to resume exports.
Behind the lines: Biden officials understand that vaccine diplomacy is a sensitive issue for Indians. In internal meetings, senior Biden officials decided to take a gentle approach to Modi.
- Biden plans to hold a COVID-19 summit on the sidelines of UN General Assembly meetings next week, with surgeon general Vivek Murthy hinting that the president will make some new announcements ahead of the summit.
- Biden’s aides decided not to try to arm Modi strongly by conditioning his participation in his willingness to release vaccines to COVAX. According to one source, he will be welcomed regardless of his decision.
- Modi has also been invited to a White House summit on September 24 along with leaders from Japan and Australia.
The big picture: COVAX, the UN-backed program aimed at addressing the inequality of the coronavirus vaccine, has struggled to achieve its goals.
- Last week it announced that it expected to have only 1.425 billion doses available by the end of this year, below the 1.9 billion the organization expected to have in an estimate submitted in June.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has been critical of richer nations like the United States to prioritize booster shots before increasing initial donations for residents in lower-income countries.
- The United States has already given 140 million doses and pledged to buy 500 million doses from Pfizer for COVAX distribution, a White House official said.
In depth: Officials want the countries participating in the summit to promise that COVAX should be the main vehicle for distributing vaccines.
- Despite its failure to fully cooperate in international investigations into the origins of COVID-19, China is invited, sources said.
- Officials also plan to invite Russia, which has largely abstained from the COVAX initiative.
- The goal of the Biden team is to convince the richest countries to give and not sell any surplus supplies.