Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360].
U.S. The U.S. will "immediately" send material for the manufacture of vaccines, as well as therapies, tests, ventilators and protective equipment to India, so that the country can cope with the deadly second wave of COVID-19 that lives, said Sunday the administration of President Joseph Biden.
"Just as India sent aid to the United States because our hospitals were overburdened at the beginning of the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need," National Security Council spokeswoman Emily Horne said in a statement.
She said the US is working round the clock to deploy available resources and supplies and has identified specific sources of raw materials that are urgently required for the Indian manufacture of the Covishield vaccine to be made available to India immediately.
He further explained that to help treat COVID-19 patients and protect frontline health care workers in India, the American union has identified supplies of therapeutic products, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and personal protective equipment - PPE - that will be available immediately.
He also said that options are being pursued to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis.
"The U.S. Development Finance Corporation -DFC- is funding a substantial expansion of the manufacturing capacity of BioE, the vaccine manufacturer in India, enabling BioE to ramp up to produce at least one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022," he added.
Horne said the United States also is deploying an expert team of public health advisers from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and USAID to work closely with the U.S. Embassy, Indian health ministries and Indian Epidemic Intelligence Service personnel.
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) will also work quickly with CDC to support and accelerate the mobilization of emergency resources available to India through the Global Fund.
Britain, France and Germany have also pledged to send aid to the Asian country, in order to contain the crisis caused by COVID-19.
So, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Sunday that he will send emergency medical equipment, such as ventilators and oxygen concentrators.
"Vital medical equipment, including hundreds of oxygen concentrators and ventilators, are now travelling from the UK to India," he said.
He added that more than 600 units of medical supplies will leave London to fight the virus at India's request.
The United Kingdom will do "all it can to support the international community in the global fight against the pandemic," Johnson said.
In that regard, the British Foreign Office said the first shipment, of nine air containers, should arrive in New Delhi early Tuesday.
The French government will not be left behind, so France plans to offer "significant" oxygen capacity in the coming days. According to AFP news agency, the aid will include oxygen ventilators.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also said her government is preparing to send emergency aid to India.
"I want to express my condolences to the people of India for the terrible suffering that COVID-19 has once again brought to their communities. The fight against the pandemic is our common struggle. Germany stands in solidarity with India and is urgently preparing a support mission," she said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his country is suffering from a "tsunami" of coronaviruses.
This, after this Sunday, India recorded a new world record of infected daily, accumulating nearly 353 thousand positive cases in a single day, so the Indian president urged all citizens to be vaccinated and act with caution.
"We were confident, our spirits were high after successfully facing the first wave, but this storm has shaken the nation," Modi said in a radio address.
Several hospitals and doctors have issued urgent notices saying they cannot cope with the flood of patients, while various media report that people are dying in the streets while crematoriums are already bursting at the seams despite being open 24 hours a day.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal extended for a week a lockdown in the capital that was due to end today, Monday, as one person dies every four minutes in the city due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
