The US has so far provided over USD 500 million in COVID-19 assistance to India, the White House said on Wednesday, adding it would soon make a determination on distribution of the 80 million vaccines to other countries.
“To date, the United States has provided over USD 500 million in COVID relief to India, including contributions from the US federal and state governments, American companies and organizations and private citizens,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told members of the White House Foreign Press Group in a virtual press conference call.
The Biden administration, she said, is now working to extend that assistance to other South Asian countries that have been impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. “We’ve sent seven air shipments, including health supplies, oxygen, oxygen supplies, and 95 masks, rapid diagnostic tests and medicine”.
The Biden administration, she said, is now working to extend that assistance to other South Asian countries that have been impacted by Covid-19 pandemic. “We’ve sent seven air shipments, including health supplies, oxygen, oxygen supplies, and 95 masks, rapid diagnostic tests and medicine”.
The interagency team including National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and those from the State Department are discussing to determine how the United States is going to distribute and share these vaccine doses.
“Certainly, the plight of everything the people of India had been through is obviously on our minds but there are also a range of countries and regions around the world that have been deeply impacted that are also in need. So, these are all factors. Hopefully we’ll have more on this in the coming days,” Psaki said.
COVID-19 situation in India:
Meanwhile, India saw a dip in the daily Covid death toll with 3,874 fatalities reported in the last 24 hours. India recorded 2,76,110 new cases.
The top five states which have registered maximum cases are Tamil Nadu with 34,875 cases, followed by Karnataka with 34,281 cases, Maharashtra with 34,031 cases, Kerala with 32,762 cases and Andhra Pradesh with 23,160 cases.
Around 57.64 per cent of the new cases are reported from these five states, with Tamil Nadu alone responsible for 12.63 per cent of the new cases.