Guyana should ask for vaccines from PM Modi

Dear Editor,
Guyana and India have very friendly relations. India has been giving away tens of millions of American dollars in aid of Guyana. There is no reason why India will not supply vaccines to Guyana. Guyana should approach the Government of India for a grant for anti-Covid vaccines and to buy the rest needed to immunize our population. India has been giving vaccines to almost every country that requested it. It is part of India’s new diplomacy effort to strengthen links with countries and regions by making vaccines available to them. The rich White countries have not been giving vaccines to the developing poor countries. They do not have enough for themselves and therefore cannot make vaccines available to other countries.
India has been carrying anti-Covid vaccines to its neighbors and countries around the world in what is described as “Covine Diplomacy” as India seeks to strengthen links with countries in the largest region of South Asia and around the world. Country after country has contacted India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi pleading for vaccines. Countries or governments known to be hostile to India and Indians who settled there have approached India for help. India has responded positively but has not provided the requested amount. India has to supply vaccines to the world along with vaccination of its own population of almost 1.4 billion. Therefore, the Government of India offered varying amounts of free vaccines depending on population size.
India introduced its vaccine a week ago and has vaccinated nearly two million people. India has given millions of doses of gratis and shipped them on a state-owned carrier Air India that has been delivering vaccines globally. The carrier was due to be privatized last April but COVID prevented completion of a deal. Air India is now saving humanity carrying vaccines and almost free and cost of Government of India. The carrier has also been transporting millions of stranded Indians around the world.
The company that manufactures the vaccines in India sells them commercially to the Government of India and to other nations. One of the companies is funded by the Government of India. Each vaccine dose costs $ 4, about a tenth of the cost of vaccines made in the US, UK and Europe. India gives the vaccines to its neighbors for free and also to several other countries including South America. In addition, some countries have purchased vaccines. Brazil got two million doses. Barbados and Dominica have asked PM Modi for some free vaccines and have offered to pay for the rest sufficiently to vaccinate their population. There is no reason why Guyana cannot do the same.
India has two vaccines in the market – AstraZeneca which makes Covishield and Covaxin. Both are safe. Six other vaccines are in the pipeline and should be ready in another month – undergoing the final phase of the human trial for efficacy.
India’s drug regulator has given Covishield (the local name for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK) the green light and Covaxin, made locally by pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech. That company exports various vaccines to 123 countries.
India is a vaccine powerhouse, producing 60 percent of the world’s vaccines and home to half a dozen major European and American manufacturers.
India’s two vaccines can be stored at regular refrigerator temperatures. European and American vaccines must be stored at temperatures between minus 20 and 70 degrees Celsius. Poor countries do not have the capacity to store vaccines at such low temperatures.
The companies making both vaccines expect to produce between 600 and 700 million doses this year. They have received an order of over a billion doses for this year and orders continue to pile up. For maximum effectiveness, two doses are needed. A new factory set up to ramp up the production of more vaccines was destroyed in a fire a few days ago. Additional production would be affected in the short term. But there are plenty of vaccines to vaccinate the elderly and vulnerable in the short term as the world awaits production. Guyana can ask India for tens of thousands for the vulnerable among us.

Truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram