Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi has urged the Biden administration to share unused AstraZeneca vaccines with India. He, along with Carolyn Maloney, James Clyburn, and Stephen Lynch, was part of an inquiry to ensure deployment of the vaccines.
Krishnamoorthi, who is representing the 8th Congressional District in the state of Illinoi, has on numerous occasions talked about the worsening situation in India, and sought help from the Biden administration. His efforts have been appreciated by the Indian ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu as well.
Earlier last week, the Congressman took to Twitter to talk about the COVID surge in India. Sharing an article on how COVID-19 crisis is affecting Indian Americans, he stated that he is “pushing the Biden administration to slow this dangerous rise by sharing resources”.
The AstraZeneca has not been approved by the US and thus is unlikely to be used by the Biden administration, the PTI reported. The administration has been requested and advised to send a part of their stock of the vaccine doses to countries like India who are struggling to cope with the COVID-19 surge.
The American Association of Physicians of Indian origin (AAPI), the largest body of Indian-American doctors in the US urged the government to release at least 30 million AstraZeneca doses to India to meet its acute shortage and wrote letters to 100 senators to ask for their support in increased assistance to India, The Economic Times reported.
Prominent American civil rights leader said he will ask the Biden administration to send 60 million dosses to India in the devastating second wave of the pandemic.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and Economic Times)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)