Priyanka Chopra on US President Joe Biden pledging support to India to fight Covid-19: ‘This is a crucial step’

Days after Priyanka Chopra urgently sought Covid-19 vaccines for India, and tweeted about the US ordering ‘more vaccines than needed’, she shared a follow-up post on the situation. She thanked the US for committing to support India in this time of need.

“The scale of the COVID crisis in India is devastating and has accelerated so quickly even over just this past week. We see the steep and alarming spike in cases, and none of us have seen anything like it, even in this pandemic. I’m thankful that in the past few days the US and other countries have answered the call of India to send urgent medical assistance and lift measures preventing Indian vaccine producers from accessing the materials they need to make doses. I was also relieved to hear that the US will share up to 60 million AstraZeneca doses with countries in need. This is a crucial step,” she wrote on Twitter.

On Monday, US President Joe Biden pledged his support in India’s Covid-19 fight through emergency assistance such as ventilators and vaccine raw materials. Priyanka wrote, “My concern was the US had not yet said when and where they’ll actually be delivered. I am heartened by President Biden’s additional comments yesterday that he intends to send vaccines to India in the near future. So far the US has confirmed, pending FDA approval, that 10 million doses could be shared within the next few weeks. However, it could take months before the remaining 50 million are delivered.”

Priyanka said that while India is the largest vaccine producer in the world, only a fraction of the population has received the Covid-19 vaccine, with just 1.6% receiving both doses. She added that while this is the case in India, the US has ordered vaccines ‘beyond the needs of its population’.

“We need to do everything possible to help stop the spread of the virus in India, and that requires more ready-made doses for the country’s 1.4 billion people. While India is the world’s biggest vaccine producer, so far according to Our World in Data it has only been able to provide doses for under 10% of its population, with only 1.6% being fully vaccinated with 2 doses. Meanwhile, the US has ordered more than 550 million doses beyond the needs of its population. This is why I strongly believe that the US and other wealthy nations should share doses as soon as possible with those in urgent need, including India, and why I’m supporting Global Citizen’s Vax Live campaign and so can you,” she wrote.

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“Beyond sharing vaccines, we also need the pharmaceutical industry to act. While some vaccine manufacturers have made vaccines available to the global vaccine sharing program COVAX and developing countries at not for profit prices, others like Moderna have yet to make this commitment. At the very least, they should agree to provide doses to vaccinate community health workers in the worst-hit countries immediately through COVAX at a significantly discounted price. More vaccines for COVAX will not just help India but many countries around the world. Please use your voice to demand these vaccines be sent out as soon as possible. As President Macron — who has already shared 100,000 vaccine doses with Africa this month — has said, ‘The time has come to share,’” she added.