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December 17, 2020
UK and India to accelerate Collaboration on Vaccines.
Photo: UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab meets India’s Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar. Image provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, London.
London/New Delhi, December 16, 2020 — Experts from India and the UK will join forces through a new virtual hub to deliver vaccines for coronavirus and other deadly viruses, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab announced in India Wednesday, December 16.
The UK Foreign Secretary met Prime Minister Modi to discuss the UK and India working together as a force for good and launching the pioneering new vaccines hub, which will share best practice for regulation and clinical trials, and foster innovation. He also visited a Delhi health clinic that will administer Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccines.
India’s Serum Institute is poised to make over a billion doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca. Unlike other vaccines, it can be stored at average fridge temperatures, making it easier and cheaper to produce and keep - and distribute worldwide.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said:
“This Serum Institute and Oxford University partnership demonstrates the UK-India relationship at its best: a vaccine developed in the UK and made in India, drawing our brightest minds together to save lives as a global force for good.
“A global pandemic requires a global solution. Scientific cooperation has made breakthroughs on coronavirus vaccines at a record-breaking pace, and the UK-India Vaccine Hub will now build on these innovations, to bring this crisis to an end and protect us all against future pandemics.”
Millions of the doses made by the Serum Institute will be distributed to the world’s poorest people via the global COVAX initiative, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Gavi, the vaccine alliance.
The UK has championed equitable access to any coronavirus vaccine for those who need it. It has committed up to £619 million to COVAX to secure both the UK’s access to coronavirus vaccines and distribute COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.
The new hub will enable British and Indian experts to share knowledge on clinical trials and regulatory approvals and get vaccines to people who need them most in a safe, secure, and energy-efficient way.
It will protect the UK and India by enhancing cooperation on the development and distribution of coronavirus vaccines, better aligning the international regulation of vaccines, and fostering partnerships to develop innovation ‘moonshots’ that can define vaccine delivery over the next decade and beyond.
During his meeting with Prime Minister Modi, the Foreign Secretary signaled his ambition for a closer UK-India relationship.
The Foreign Secretary also met Minister for Education Ramesh Pokhriyal.
Source: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, London.
|GlobalGiants.Com|
Edited & Posted by the Editor | 5:59 AM | Link to this Post
