Coronavirus: US says it’s ready to ship vaccines but India needs to clear legal hurdles for import

The United States on Tuesday said that the Joe Biden administration was ready to ship coronavirus vaccines to India after New Delhi worked through its legal processes of accepting the doses.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters at a media briefing that each country needed to complete its own set of operational, regulatory and legal processes before vaccines can be sent there. “Now, India has determined that it needs further time to review legal provisions related to accepting vaccine donations,” he said.

Price added that the Indian government can talk about the status of its discussions with COVAX, which was helping facilitate the delivery of vaccines. “But we are ready to ship those vaccines expeditiously when we have a green light from the Government of India,” he added.

In June, Biden had announced that the US would share 80 million, or 8 crore, Covid-19 vaccine doses with the rest of the world. Out of this, he had said that six million, or 60 lakh, shots would be shared with India, South Korea, Canada, Mexico and other countries.

In the last few weeks, the US has sent vaccines across the world, including to Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan and Bangladesh, reported PTI. However, India could not get the vaccines as…

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