United Nations Security Council

Briefing on equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines in conflict and humanitarian crises

[11 April 2022, 3pm EDT/ 0030 hrs IST (12 April)]

Mr. President,

Let me begin by thanking Mr. Ted Chaiban, Global Lead Coordinator for COVID-19 Vaccine Country-Readiness and Delivery; Dr Esperanza Martinez, Crisis Operations Manager of the International Committee of the Red Cross; and Dr. Emmanuel Ojwang, Health and Nutrition Coordinator, CARE South Sudan, for their detailed briefings. I would also like to compliment the UK Presidency for taking the initiative on this important theme.

2. In the last two years, we have seen a global effort to overcome the challenges caused by the pandemic. Several countries have immunized large parts of their populations against the Coronavirus and have moved on to next rounds of booster dosage. However, much of the developing world is yet to be vaccinated. The vaccination levels of population in countries facing conflict situations are even lower. The irony is that while we have made significant progress in developing newer vaccines against COVID-19 as well as in their production, the issues of vaccine equity, access, distribution, and administration remain to be addressed.

3. The lack of coordination in vaccine distribution, as well as, lack of sufficient capacity to administer vaccines has adversely affected vaccination initiatives in countries facing armed conflict and post-conflict situations. It has impacted underdeveloped countries the hardest. We have to scale up our efforts towards expediting delivery of safe and affordable COVID-19 vaccine to such population centers.

Mr. President,

4. The Covid-19 crisis has demonstrated the necessity of improving public health infrastructure for last mile delivery, especially in regions where health infrastructure is weak. We need to find ways to ensure vaccine delivery in such areas affected by conflict and post-conflict situations, which are not served adequately by health infrastructure. We also need to work on tackling vaccine hesitancy by evolving contextualized, curated, and empathetic strategies to relay scientific and accurate information to the people.

5. With a resurgence in Covid cases and an increase in the number of ‘variants of concern’, it is of paramount importance that international collaboration is encouraged in genomic surveillance to track virus mutations and exchange information on a regular basis and in a timely manner.

6. It is a matter of concern that the acceleration of vaccination drives against COVID-19 has seen a reduction of vaccination of children against other diseases. We need to ensure that any slackening of other vaccinations is reversed to ensure a sustainable health recovery from the pandemic.

Mr. President,

7. In line with our vision of 'One Earth, One Health', India has been instrumental in saving innumerable lives by providing timely and necessary medicines and vaccines to many countries. India’s own vaccination efforts have made the global fight against COVID-19 stronger.

8. Following the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, India played its due part, by supplying Made-in-India vaccines, essential lifesaving medicines and medical equipment to the entire global south. India has supported more than 150 countries with supply of essential medicines and medical accessories since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and continues to support countries in need. India is also ready to explore expanding domestic vaccine production capacity for dedicated supply to partner countries in the future, as a part of our vision for “vaccines for tomorrow”.Further, in order to convert “vaccines into vaccination”, countries need robust capabilities in critical sectors including Information Technology tools, such as our COWIN application; cold chain expansion; and training and capacity building of healthcare workers for vaccine administration. India would be happy to partner with other countries to assist in these important areas as well.

9. Our scientific community, along with the support of a robust pharmaceutical industry, have been successful in developing and producing safe, effective, and affordable vaccines, including the world’s first DNA based vaccine. More than 170 million doses of Made-in-India vaccines have reached 96 countries and UN entities, including 41 million doses to 48 countries under the COVAX facility and 14 million doses to 48 countries and UN Peacekeepers as bilateral donation. We have also assisted several countries in building their capacities to administer these vaccines through customized training programmes. We also upgraded two peacekeeping hospitals in Goma in DRC and Juba in South Sudan respectively, right at the onset of the pandemic.

Mr. President,

10. It is a matter of deep concern that even while the Security Council has called for a “COVID” pause in hostilities, terrorists and other non-state actors have only taken advantage of the pandemic by increasing their nefarious activities. Attempts have been made by terrorists to exploit the financial and emotional distress caused by the pandemic related lockdowns to weaken the cohesiveness of societies. Increased use of digital platforms during the pandemic has, unfortunately, made people more vulnerable to radicalization and recruitment by terrorist groups.

Mr. President,

11. As the current data on COVID-19 cases demonstrates, we are still far from a post-pandemic world. This would mean that we must continue to work together to find innovative, affordable, and safe solutions to counter this virus. For continued supplies of vaccines, we need to ramp up our manufacturing capacities, both qualitatively and quantitatively, and keep the global supply chain for raw materials open and uninterrupted. India has been strongly advocating for the principle of equity in the WHO and has also proposed, along with South Africa, a TRIPS waiver at the WTO for COVID vaccines, diagnostics, and medicines.

11. India stands ready to work with the global community to build adequately funded robust health systems, strengthen preparedness, and ensure equitable access of vaccines.

I thank you Mr President.

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