Drone captures mass cremations in India 2:03
(CNN) -
The United States government will send additional supplies and support to India as the Asian country faces an increase in coronavirus cases, the White House announced on Sunday.
To help treat COVID-19 patients and protect front-line healthcare workers in India, the United States has identified supplies of therapeutic products, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators, and personal protective equipment (PPE) which will be available immediately for India.
The United States is also looking for options to provide supplies for the generation of oxygen and other related urgently, "said in part the summary of a call between national security advisers of the two countries.
During the call between US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, Sullivan expressed "deep sympathy for the people of India following the recent spike in COVID-19 cases."
Record rise in covid-19 depletes oxygen in India 3:46
"Just as India sent aid to the United States because our hospitals were overloaded at the beginning of the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need," reads the summary.
Help to manufacture vaccines in India
The statement went on to say that the United States has identified a "specific raw material that is urgently required for the manufacture of Covishield vaccine in India and will be immediately available to India."
The White House also announced that the US Development Finance Corporation will fund a "substantial expansion of the manufacturing capacity of BioE, the Indian vaccine manufacturer, which will allow BioE to increase its capacity to produce at less one billion doses of covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
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The US will also send an 'expert team of public health advisers from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to work closely together. with the US embassy, the Indian ministries of health and the staff of the Indian Epidemic Intelligence Service, ”according to the White House.
Officials from the US National Security Council held meetings over the weekend on how to help India, and the Department of Health and Human Services did as well, according to a family source. Discussions have revolved around providing more components for vaccine production and materials to administer them, as well as oxygen and personal protective equipment.
Dr. Anthony Fauci described those discussions in an interview Sunday on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" this way: "Right now, even as we speak, George, there are discussions about how to really improve what we can do. do on the ground.
oxygen supplies, drugs, tests, personal protective equipment, as well as taking a medium and long-term look at how vaccines can be delivered to these people. '
They study shipping AstraZeneca vaccines
But the latest statement from Biden's national security adviser did not mention sharing the doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine of which the United States has tens of millions in storage.
The doses have not been used, with the exception of a few million shipped to Canada and Mexico, because the US Food and Drug Administration has not yet granted AstraZeneca emergency use authorization.
The administration has faced pressure to release AstraZeneca vaccines in India.
A person familiar with the matter said the issue has come up in the meetings, but the final decision is still up in the air.
Andy Slavitt, the White House's senior adviser for the Covid response, did not say on Sunday whether the United States plans to send vaccines to India.
"When we make decisions about what to do with additional vaccines, about exporting them, we will announce them," he told CNN's Pamela Brown on "Newsroom."
"We are evaluating all these options."
In March, the US loaned about four million doses of AstraZeneca vaccines against covid-19 to Mexico and Canada.
Fauci said in his interview that shipping vaccines to India is a possibility.
CDC is currently consulting with the country and providing technical assistance.
"I think it's going to be something that should be actively considered," he said.
“We really need to do more.
I don't think we can not do it.
And we are doing it.
Fauci told Reuters earlier this month that the United States probably will not need the AstraZeneca vaccine even if it is licensed for emergency use.
The Department of Defense will also provide support
The US Department of Defense will provide support to India for its response against COVID-19, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced on Sunday.
“I have directed the Department to use all the resources at our disposal, within our authority, to support US interagency efforts to rapidly provide India's frontline healthcare workers with the materials they need.
We are currently evaluating the equipment that we can purchase and use from our own inventory in the coming days and weeks, ”Austin said in a statement.
The statement follows news that the Biden administration will deploy additional supplies and support to India as the country grapples with a surge in coronavirus cases.
Austin also announced that in the coming days, the department will provide transportation and logistical assistance to deliver necessary supplies to India, including oxygen-related equipment, rapid test kits, and personal protective equipment.
"We will continue to work closely with other US agencies and departments, as well as industry, to support our Indian partners in their effort to combat this outbreak," Austin said.
Devastation in India by covid-19
India registers 314,835 covid-19 infections in 24 hours 1:03
India reported 349,691 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the fourth consecutive day the country has set a world record for daily infections, according to government and scientific statistics.
And on Sunday, the country reported the nation's highest daily death record for the ninth day in a row, adding 2,767 deaths in the past 24 hours.
In the last three days, the country, with a population of 1.3 billion, has added more than a million cases.
Sunday's count represents the highest number of cases recorded in a single day anywhere in the world, according to a CNN tally of figures from John Hopkins University.
It is the fourth day in a row that India has broken the record.
With information from Rashard Rose, Barbara Starr and Manveena Suri
Pandemic