Covid: US and allies promise one billion jabs for South East Asia

 

The leaders of the US, Australia, India and Japan have agreed to deliver one billion doses of coronavirus vaccine to much of Asia by the end of 2022.

The joint commitment was made following the first leaders' meeting of the so-called Quad - a group formed in 2007.

The vaccines - expected to be the single-dose Johnson & Johnson product - are set to be manufactured in India.

The US said the "massive joint commitment" would initially focus on delivering doses to South East Asia.

"With Indian manufacturing, US technology, Japanese and American financing and Australian logistics... [we] committed to delivering up to one billion doses," US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said shortly after the virtual summit on Friday.

He said the vaccines would go to the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) as well as "the Pacific and beyond".

Asean is a 10-member international body that represents more than 500 million people. Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines are all members.

"India's formidable vaccine production capacity will be expanded with support from Japan, US and Australia," India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

What else was discussed?

The talks on Friday were the group's first at a leaders' level, and Mr Modi said "vaccines, climate change, and emerging technologies" were all on the agenda.

"The four countries have agreed to a plan to pool their financial resources, manufacturing capabilities and... and logistical strengths so as to ramp up the manufacturing and distribution of Covid-19 vaccines," Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said.

The Quad group is often regarded as a counterweight to China's growing assertiveness in Asia, and comments from the four leaders after the meeting appeared to take indirect aim at Beijing. All nations pledged to defend a "free and open" continent.

"We're renewing our commitment to ensure that our region is governed by international law, committed to upholding universal values and free from coercion," US President Joe Biden, who chaired the meeting, said in a statement.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the summit represented "a new dawn".

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, however, took a more direct line against Beijing. He told reporters he had raised "strong opposition to China's unilateral attempts to change the status quo", adding that the other leaders had expressed support for his comments. - from source bbc.com