The U.S. will send medical supplies including personal protective equipment, testing kits and raw materials for COVID-19 vaccines to India as the country is experiencing a surge of new infections, the White House said April 25.
India has reported a record number of COVID-19 cases for the last five days in a row, with 352,991 cases reported April 25, according to CNBC.
The White House released a statement saying, "Just as India sent assistance to the United States as our hospitals were strained early in the pandemic, the United States is determined to help India in its time of need."
The U.S. has identified sources of specific raw material urgently needed to make India's COVID-19 vaccine that will be made available immediately, the statement said. The U.S. Development Finance Corporation is funding an expansion of manufacturing capability for India's vaccine manufacturer, BioE, to enable the company to produce at least 1 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2022.
The U.S. has also identified supplies of therapeutics, rapid diagnostic test kits, ventilators and PPE that will be made immediately available to the country. It's also "pursuing options to provide oxygen generation and related supplies on an urgent basis."
Hospitals in India have been running out of oxygen, and in one case, 22 patients died in a hospital after a leak cut off their oxygen supplies, The New York Times reported.
Read the full White House statement here.