Biden Promises Vaccine Shipments As India Breaks Global Covid Case Record

Bloomberg: Biden Says He Intends To Aid India With Vaccines To Combat Surge
President Joe Biden said he intends to send vaccines from the U.S. to India as the country battles the worst coronavirus surge in the world, but did not specify timing for a decision or shipments. Biden said Tuesday that in a call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he discussed “when we’ll be able to send actual vaccines to India, which would be my intention to do.” (Fabian, 4/27)

The Washington Post: Fauci Urges Greater Help For India And Other Pandemic Struck Nations 
The top U.S. infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci said Wednesday that the world has failed so far in tackling the global nature of the pandemic with a suitably global response, leading to tragedies like the current outbreak in India. ... “The only way that you’re going to adequately respond to a global pandemic is by having a global response, and a global response means equity throughout the world,” Fauci told the Guardian Australia. (Schemm, 4/28)

CNN: China Offered Covid Aid To India While US Dragged Its Feet, But Delhi Isn't That Keen
When India asked the United States this month to lift a ban on exporting vaccine raw materials to help with the South Asian country's Covid crisis, Washington appeared to drag its feet, citing the need to "vaccinate the American people" first. This tepid response disappointed and angered many in India, which is grappling with the world's worst outbreak: daily infection numbers are hitting new records, hospitals and cremation sites are overflowing and patients are dying due to shortage in medical supplies. A backlash at home, as well as widespread international criticism, quickly led the US to reverse course, promising to provide aid to India. (Gan and Yeung, 4/28)

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The Washington Post: India Breaks Global Record For New Coronavirus Cases For Sixth Day In A Row As More Countries Pledge Support 
India reported more than 300,000 new confirmed covid-19 cases for the sixth day in a row Tuesday as the country battles a brutal wave of illnesses that’s overwhelmed its health-care system. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, called the situation in India “beyond heartbreaking.” He warned that many countries in the world “are still experiencing intense transmission,” with more new cases globally in the past week than in the first five months of the pandemic. (Berger, Hassan and Schemm, 4/27)

The New York Times: ‘This Is A Catastrophe.’ In India, Illness Is Everywhere
Crematories are so full of bodies, it’s as if a war just happened. Fires burn around the clock. Many places are holding mass cremations, dozens at a time, and at night, in certain areas of New Delhi, the sky glows. Sickness and death are everywhere. Dozens of houses in my neighborhood have sick people. One of my colleagues is sick. One of my son’s teachers is sick. The neighbor two doors down, to the right of us: sick. Two doors to the left: sick. “I have no idea how I got it,” said a good friend who is now in the hospital. “You catch just a whiff of this…..” and then his voice trailed off, too sick to finish. (Gettleman, 4/27)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus Has Crushed India’s Health System. Patients Are On Their Own
When Rehmat Ahsan began to have trouble breathing last week, his family went from hospital to hospital in India’s capital looking for a bed in a covid-19 ward. Everywhere they tried was full. Then they started a new search — for the oxygen that might save his life. Ahsan’s older brother said he found an oxygen cylinder from a private vendor for $350, five times the normal price. It lasted eight hours. When he tried to refill the cylinder, he found hundreds of people waiting in line. (Slater, Masih and Irfan, 4/27)