India ready to produce 5 billion vaccine doses by 2022: PM at G20 summit

India is ready to produce over 5 billion COVID vaccine doses by the end of next year to help the world in the fight against the pandemic, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at a G-20 Summit session in Rome on Saturday.

The PM also stressed the ‘One Earth, One Health’ vision of collaborative approach in dealing with the deadly disease, PTI has reported.

Modi in his intervention at the session on “global economy and global health” also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said, briefing reporters on PM Modi’s engagements.

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Modi expressed satisfaction over the G20’s decision to come up with a 15 per minimum corporate tax to make the global financial architecture more “just and fair”.

The decision is aimed at ensuring that companies pay a certain amount of tax in countries they are located in, Mr Shringla said.

“It is pertinent to mention that it was in 2014 that the prime minister had first proposed the idea of a minimum corporate tax in order to prevent to some extent evasion of taxes,” he said.

Noting that the WHO approval for the emergency use authorisation for Covaxin, India’s indigenous vaccine, is pending, India suggested that a nod for the jab will help India assist other countries.

A technical advisory group of the UN health agency will meet on November 3 to conduct a final “risk-benefit assessment” for Emergency Use Listing of Covaxin. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Covishield are the two widely used vaccines in India.

PM Modi also highlighted India’s medical supply to over 150 countries and contribution to maintaining the global supply chain during the pandemic.

Stressing on the need for resilient global supply chains, Prime Minister Modi spoke about India’s bold economic reforms and invited G20 nations to make India their partner in economic recovery and supply chain diversification.

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He also spoke about “One Earth, One Health” vision in the context of fighting the pandemic and future global health issues, Mr Shringla added.

The prime minister spoke about “our vision of ‘One Earth, One Health'” which is essentially the need for a collaborative approach in the international domain in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, he said.

The concept of ‘One Earth, One Health’ is something that was enunciated by the prime minister and was well received by G20 leaders because this is something that is very important to the international community as “we are looking at comprehensive global solutions” that can address issues and problems such as inequities and problems that developing countries face, he said.

Modi also brought out the fact that despite challenges, India continued to be a trusted partner in the context of reliable supply chains during the pandemic.

The prime minister conveyed that India has not only administered one billion doses but more importantly “we are ready to produce over 5 billion vaccine doses by the end of next year”, Mr Shringla said.

“This obviously will be available not only for our citizens but the rest of the world and that this is our own contribution to reducing…vaccine inequities, especially in the developing world,” he said.

Prime Minister Modi also stressed on vaccine research and manufacturing, Mr Shringla said.