Leaders of US Congressional India Caucus Biden to send healthcare supplies to India (File)
Washington:
Leaders of the US Congressional India Caucus on Friday urged President Joe Biden to send much-needed resources and healthcare supplies to save lives in India, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to asking that lives be prioritised over intellectual property ownership. We are watching a catastrophe unfold in India, Indian American Congressman Ro Khanna said after the Caucus sent a letter to the president.
The letter has been signed by India Caucus Co-Chairs Congressmen Brad Sherman and Steve Chabot, in addition to its co-Vice Chairs Congressman Michael Waltz and Khanna.
Ahead of a World Trade Organization meeting in Geneva next week to discuss a waiver of certain provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID-19, the White House said it will do whatever is best to end the pandemic. We re going to do what s in the best interest of ending the pandemic. We are already engaged in steps to increase vaccine production, White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday. Moderna announced that it will not enforce its COVID-19-related patents against those making vaccines intended to combat the pandemic. We recently secured a new partnership between Sanofi and Moderna to manufacture 200 million doses, she said.
As India faces a catastrophic COVID-19 outbreak, five top Democratic senators wrote to Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson, seeking global access to vaccines, including technology transfer.
(Photo : Anindito Mukherjee/Getty Images) India faces spiralling numbers of Covid-19 infections
NEW DELHI, INDIA - APRIL 20: A man wearing PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) performs the last rites to his relative who died of the Covid-19 coronavirus disease at a crematorium on April 20, 2021 in New Delhi, India. Covid-19 cases are spiralling out of control in India, with daily infections approaching 300,000, according to health ministry data, bringing the nationwide tally of infections to almost 14 million. The latest wave has already overwhelmed hospitals and crematoriums.
India s COVID-19 crisis is worsening. The COVID-19 crisis struck India hard at first, as the world s second-most populated nation with a weak health system. In September, however, infections started to decline, perplexing epidemiologists and healthcare workers. It was apparent in February that the virus s grasp on hospitals was loosening.
Having joined the WTO, many Western countries expected China to soon liberalise and become an open market economy. This second in a series of three columns describes how China has been able to shrug off pressures to change its economic structure and trading strategy, particularly regarding how its state-owned enterprises operate within the multilateral system.