“India would propose that implementation of vaccine passports will be hugely discriminatory and disadvantageous to the developing countries,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.
India, having fully vaccinated little over 3 per cent of its population, opposed the adoption of COVID-19 vaccine passports at the G7 meeting of health ministers on Friday. It said such an initiative could prove to be “hugely discriminatory”.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, while addressing the meeting of his counterparts from seven wealthy nations – to which India was invited this year as a guest – expressed concerns about the availability of vaccines and low rates of inoculation in developing nations.
“At this stage of [the] pandemic, it is pertinent to also discuss about India’s concern over the idea of a vaccine passport. Considering the fact of lower levels of vaccination in developing countries in contrast to the developed countries and still unaddressed issues related to equitable and affordable access, supply and distribution of safe and effective vaccines, India would propose that implementation of vaccine passports will be hugely discriminatory and disadvantageous to the developing countries,” he said.
“India would suggest that the same should be implemented duly taking into consideration emerging evidence on [the] efficacy of vaccines and under the overarching coordination of WHO duly attending to the anomaly of access and affordability as it exists today,” Dr Vardhan added.
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