Wednesday, April 28th

The Biden Administration's announcement of their revised policy on the export of vaccines and the supplying of raw materials to produce vaccines does not detail how the policy will be administered. Join us for a National Call-In Day on April 28th, 2021. Call your Senators and Representatives and ask them to demand President Biden:

<aside> 💡 - Release information on how many doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be dispatched to India, share additional portions of the US vaccine stockpile, and provide a fully transparent timeline of when, how, and to what extent these measures, including the export of raw materials to ramp up the vaccine production, will be implemented.

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Use the Call For India Web App to contact your members of Congress now.

In the alternative, you can find your members of Congress here and their contact information here.


Script

Hi, my name is [NAME], and I live in [STATE]. India has been experiencing a record-breaking number of Covid-19 infections and deaths. As your constituent, I am asking you to urge President Biden to release information on how many doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be dispatched to India, share additional portions of the US vaccine stockpile, and provide a fully transparent timeline of when, how, and to what extent these measures, including the export of raw materials to ramp up vaccine production, will be implemented. Please urge President Biden to continue to provide humanitarian assistance to India in the form of oxygen, testing kits, protective equipment, and medical supplies. Additionally, please demand ethical leadership and accountability from the Indian government on how they will distribute these resources & order them to allow open & free reporting on the COVID crisis. Finally, I urge you to support the global campaign calling for an Intellectual Property Rights waiver from the WTO for COVID-19 vaccines. Together, these actions will provide much-needed relief and critical support to Indians who are badly impacted by the pandemic.

[Feel free to add a personal story about how the Covid-19 outbreak in India has affected you and your family, or how it may impact you in the future].

Covid-19 is a global public health crisis. The pandemic knows no borders and we must all work together to bring it to an end.

[You may choose to ask where your Congressmember stands on this issue]


https://s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/secure.notion-static.com/ff8b92c4-f069-4f27-b05f-d2d364937841/india-covid-vaccine.jpg

(Photo Credit: Time Magazine)

Background

India has become the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Indian government is reporting over 300,000 new cases each day, with over 2000 daily deaths, bringing India’s official death toll to almost 200,000. On April 26, 2021, India reported 352,991 new cases, breaking yet another record for the highest single-day figure globally. Experts believe that the true number of cases and deaths is significantly higher. Hospitals have no space or capacity, and oxygen supplies are running dangerously low. People belonging to marginalized castes, lower-income backgrounds, and minority faiths are being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

According to recent figures, only 17 million people have received both vaccine doses, and 109 million people have received just one. These numbers are dismally low given India’s large population. Furthermore, shortages have deferred second doses in many states. The Serum Institute which produces Novavax and AstraZeneca vaccines warned in March of raw material shortages, which is attributable to US export bans on specific items needed to make vaccines.

Meanwhile, the United States has administered at least one dose to more than half of its adult population and has also started vaccinating all individuals above the age of 16. Demand for the vaccination has started to fall and mass vaccination sites have begun to close. As of April 26, 2021, the Biden administration said that it is prepared to provide oxygen supplies and therapeutics, personal protective equipment, and tests. It has also promised to share its AstraZeneca vaccines following an FDA safety review. However, the Biden administration has not made clear the quantities of, and timelines by which these materials will be dispatched. It has also said nothing about sharing vaccines from its own Pfizer, Moderna, and J&J stockpile amidst reports from states that supply is surpassing demand. The Biden Administration is also yet to take action on patent waivers on vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.


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