India has supplied more COVID-19 vaccines globally than vaccinated its own people, the country has told the UN General Assembly.
“In fact, as of today we have supplied more vaccines globally than have vaccinated our own people,” India’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador K. Nagaraj Naidu said at the General Assembly informal meeting on Friday.
Two of India’s vaccines, including the indigenously developed Covaxin, have already been granted emergency authorization, Naidu said, adding that 30 more vaccine candidates are at various phases of clinical trials.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to persist, the year 2021 began on a positive note with the global scientific community coming up with multiple vaccines to contain the pandemic, Naidu stated.
While the vaccine challenge has been resolved, we are now confronted with ensuring the availability, accessibility, affordability, and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. Lack of global cooperation and disparity in the accessibility of vaccines will affect the poorest nations the most, Naidu said.
India has been at the forefront of the global fight against COVID-19. Naidu told the General Assembly that India will not only be vaccinating 300 million of its own frontline workers over the next six months but in the process has also supplied vaccines to over 70 nations.