IMPACT Applauds Biden-Harris Administration for Sending Surplus U.S. Vaccines to India and the World

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 3, 2021

PHILADELPHIA — IMPACT welcomes the decision by President Biden and Vice President Harris to send 25 million vaccines abroad to help fight the pandemic globally — including a dedicated supply of lifesaving doses to India.

“We’ve been mobilizing the diaspora to urge the Biden administration to share our surplus vaccines to fight the pandemic and vaccine inequity,” says Neil Makhija, Executive Director at IMPACT. “We are thankful the administration has responded to the pleas of the Indian American community. But with over one billion people in India still waiting to get access to vaccines, we must do much, much more. The U.S. will have a surplus of nearly 300M vaccines by July, and President Biden should act swiftly to send those doses to countries in dire need, such as India.”

Global vaccine inequalities are a danger to all of us, including Americans, and could lead to new COVID variants. The U.S. government must drastically increase vaccine production and develop a distribution plan to deliver the vaccines as soon as possible. IMPACT supports Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi’s plan to dramatically expand American aid to India, Argentina, and other nations to end COVID surges.

“As coronavirus outbreaks continue to rage across the world, we’ve passed the time to talk about millions of doses —- we need to be talking about billions, and how we can distribute and administer them as soon as possible to save lives both abroad and in the United States,” says Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL). “I’ll be introducing legislation next week to address these challenges and to end the pandemic across the world to prevent new variants from sparking another COVID-19 outbreak in America.”

The NOVID Act lays out a comprehensive plan to work with international partners to vaccinate at least 60% of the population in low- and middle-income countries, and prepare for any subsequent production of second-generation vaccines necessary to counter new virus strains in the United States and abroad. The pandemic will not end for any of us until it ends for all of us.

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IMPACT supports advocacy and power-building in the Indian American community by leveraging our collective power, building coalitions to achieve greater elected and appointed representation in government, boosting civic engagement, and protecting our civil rights, including voting rights. Visit our website at www.iaimpact.org to learn more.