Washington: Defending US’ restrictions on the export of key raw materials for the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccine that threatens to slow India’s vaccination drive, a senior State Department official has said the Biden administration’s first obligation is to take care of the requirements of the American people.
The US State Department said that the US is focusing on vaccinating the American people when asked about sending raw materials to India for vaccine production. The response comes after the Serum Institute of India asked the US to lift an export ban on these materials, a request that has yet to be met. India is currently facing a large surge in COVID-19 cases with over 300,000 new cases recorded in one day this week. Some estimates suggest that the US export ban could last another month.
When asked when the Biden administration would decide on India’s request to lift a ban on the export of vaccine raw materials, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said: “…the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people.”
It is not only in the U.S. interest to see Americans vaccinated; but it is in the interests of the rest of the world to see Americans vaccinated, he said.
Foreign minister S Jaishankar has held a couple of rounds of discussions with his counterpart Anthony Blinken on the easing of the US export embargo. Foreign secretary Harsh Shringla has held similar discussions with Wendy Sherman, US deputy secretary.
