The US has said it will provide an additional $25 million to India as financial assistance for the ongoing vaccination programme

The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said India stands with the United States and several other partners in working towards containing the Covid-19 pandemic and for faster global economic recovery.

“India and the US are engaged as a part of the QUAD Vaccine initiative to supply vaccines to countries in the Indo-Pacific region from early 2022. India stands with the US and several partners in working towards containing the Covid pandemic and for quick global economic recovery,” MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a weekly media briefing.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Wednesday announced an additional $25 million in financial assistance from the US government to support India’s vaccination program.

After delegation-level talks between the two sides, Blinken told the media that the funding will help save lives by strengthening vaccine supply chains across India as the country is yet to reach a double-digit mark in the percentage of fully vaccinated individuals.

"This funding will contribute to saving a life by strengthening vaccine supply chain logistics, addressing misinformation, vaccine hesitancy and helping to train more health care workers," the US Secretary of State said.

During the press conference, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had thanked the US Secretary of State for the exceptional support during the Covid times.

As regards the announcement by the government of the United Kingdom about donation of 10 million vaccines to the commonwealth and Asian countries, the MEA Spokesperson informed that that announcement does not cover India, however, further details are still awaited.