The Indian Embassy in the United States recently organised a roundtable on “Vaccine for All” to combat COVID-19 as part of the India-US Health Partnership.
The event which was conducted virtually was attended by The Ambassador of India to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu along with Bill Gates, Co-Chair and Trustee Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s Chief Scientist.
While Bill Gates in his presentation during the roundtable showed how COVID-19 vaccines may be distributed to all in a safe, inexpensive, and trustworthy manner, Taranjit Singh Sandhu hailed the healthcare ties between India and the United States and said the relationship between both the nations is crucial to vaccinating the globe against the coronavirus.
“There were several lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that will be used to influence “future R&D (research and development) and vaccine development for all infectious diseases,” Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization, Soumya Swaminathan tweeted in a post following the roundtable.
While addressing the virtual roundtable, Sandhu further added that vaccinating the globe should be the first priority in fight against the COVID-19 outbreak. He further noted that the world’s map of immunisations shows inequities, with underdeveloped nations, especially those in Africa, languishing at 10% or lower. The United States Representative Dwight Evans, Dr. VK Paul, Member, Niti Aayog, Government of India, Professor Peter Jay Hotez, Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine, Karen Freeman, Acting Assistant Administrator, USAID, Professor Gangandeep Kang, Vellore’s Christian Medical College, Board Member-CEPI as well as Mahima Datla, CEO, Biological E, Hyderabad, attended the roundtable on “Vaccine for All” were other dignitaries who attended the event.