The Quad has said that it is pleased with the vaccine partnership's rapid progress in expanding vaccine production at the Biological E Ltd facility in India which aims to deliver at least 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
"As we enter the third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Quad partners have collectively provided more than 500 million vaccine doses. Together, we have pledged to donate more than 1.3 billion vaccine doses globally," said the Foreign Ministers of Australia, India, and Japan and the Secretary of State of the United States in a joint statement after the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Melbourne on Friday.
"We are pleased with the Quad Vaccine Partnership's rapid progress in expanding vaccine production at the Biological E Ltd facility in India, which aims to deliver at least 1 billion vaccines by the end of 2022," the statement added.
The foreign ministers of Quad countries also said that they look forward to the delivery of the first batch of Quad-supported vaccines in the first half of this year.
"We are assisting to train healthcare workers, combat vaccine hesitancy and augment infrastructure, especially cold chain systems, for 'last mile' vaccine delivery," said the ministers.
Stressing that the Quad is working to identify and address vaccine gaps and barriers exacerbated by gender, disability and social inequities, the Ministers ensured safe, effective, affordable and quality-assured vaccination coverage in hard-to-reach areas.
"We welcome the timely initiative for coordinating the response to combat the COVID pandemic under a Global Action Plan for Enhanced Engagement," the statement added.
( With inputs from ANI )
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