India will endeavour to meet Canada’s vaccine needs, Modi tells Trudeau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he had assured Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau that India would do its best to supply Canada with vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, potentially easing shortages faced in the country.

India, which boasts several vaccine manufacturing facilities, is fast emerging as a key supplier of shots to the world. Canada does not yet have a vaccine manufacturing facility of its own and is reliant on foreign suppliers.

“Was happy to receive a call from my friend @JustinTrudeau. Assured him that India would do its best to facilitate supplies of COVID vaccines sought by Canada,” Modi said in a tweet

Pfizer and Moderna have reduced the number of COVID-19 vaccines being delivered to Canada in February.

Last week, Trudeau said that Canada would succeed in inoculating its population despite “momentary disruptions” in vaccine supply and reiterated that every Canadian seeking a shot would be vaccinated by the end of September.

Trudeau and Modi talked “about India’s significant efforts in promoting vaccine production and supply, which have provided vital support to countries around the world,” a statement from Trudeau’s office said, adding that the two of them “agreed to work together on access to vaccines.”

Several Western pharma companies, including AstraZeneca, Novavax and Johnson & Johnson, have tied up with Indian drug manufacturers to produce their vaccines for sales domestically and overseas.

Last week, Verity Pharmaceuticals and Serum Institute of India (SII) had applied to distribute SII’s licensed version of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine in Canada.

(Edits by EP News Bureau)