Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

US Will Consider Sending AstraZeneca Vaccine To Covid-Hit India. Maybe for them it will be safer.

US Will Consider Sending AstraZeneca Vaccine To Covid-Hit India. Maybe for them it will be safer.

Countries including Britain and Germany have pledged help as India's coronavirus crisis grows, driving increases in global case numbers in recent days
The United States will consider sending surplus AstraZeneca vaccines to India, as backlash over its stockpile grows and the South Asian giant reels from a Covid-19 surge, top US pandemic advisor Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

Western nations including Britain and Germany have pledged help as India's coronavirus crisis grows, driving increases in global case numbers in recent days even as the number of vaccines administered globally surpasses the one billion mark.

Worst-hit in the country of 1.3 billion people was Delhi, with reports of overwhelmed hospitals, severe oxygen and medicine shortages and patients' families pleading for help on social media.

"We really need to do more. I don't think you can walk away from that," Fauci told ABC's "This Week" news program.

The United States has around 30 million doses of the low-cost AstraZeneca vaccine that are not approved for use in the country, and Fauci said the idea of sending them to India will be "something that is up for active consideration."

He also said the United States is discussing "really ramping up what we can do on the ground, oxygen supplies, drugs, tests, PPE, as well as taking the look into the intermediate and long run about how we can get vaccines to these individuals, both immediately now, as well as in the situation where you help them to be able to essentially make vaccines themselves."

He spoke a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington was "working closely with our partners in the Indian government, and we will rapidly deploy additional support to the people of India and India's health care heroes."

The AstraZeneca vaccine, along with the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, is suspected of causing very rare but serious blood clots in a handful of cases, but is approved for use in many countries including India.

Experts have long warned that no one will be safe from Covid-19 until everyone is -- including those in the developing world, making it in the global interest for wealthier countries eager to move past the pandemic to help large, lower-income nations like India to vaccinate their populations.

The grim scenes from Delhi fuelled a backlash against the United States online, with celebrities, activists and experts calling for Washington to do more -- including to lift an export ban on the raw materials that would allow India to make its own vaccine.

Writer Salman Rushdie, in a tweet addressed to US President Joe Biden, said "the US has something like a vaccine glut. India is in dire straits. Please overturn this export ban ASAP."

Fauci said the "bottom line" is that "it's a terrible situation that's going on in India and other low- and middle-income countries. And there is more we can do."

"And I believe you will see shortly that all these things that we're talking about are on the table, and we will be moving towards that," he said.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×