Australia ships medical supplies to India, vaccines to Timor-Leste, Fiji

Australian officials announced Wednesday (5 May) that the country had shipped urgent medical supplies to India and also said the country had shipped or will ship vaccines and other medical supplies to Timor-Leste and Fiji. Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne along with Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt said Australia will deliver essential medical supplies to India to support that country’s  program for combatting the country’s current COVID-19 outbreak. A chartered Qantas flight departed Sydney carrying supplies to meet the needs identified by the government of India including 1,056 ventilators and 43 oxygen concentrators. This will allow Indian frontline workers to provide lifesaving medical interventions. These Australian donated supplies will be distributed by the Indian Red Cross and local authorities to ensure support reaches those in greatest need. Payne said that as close friends and strategic partners, Australia and India will stand together during this challenging time. “India has shown great leadership and generosity to the world in exporting vaccines globally. It is time for the world to repay that generosity and Australia as a close friend of the Indian people is playing its part,” Payne said. “We express our solidarity and deepest support with India as it responds to this ongoing crisis and recognise how difficult this time is for Indians and Australians in India and their loved ones.” Hunt said the government had offered a significant package of support to the Indian government. “We are deeply passionate about supporting people in India, which is why we have reached out to support with medical supplies such as oxygen, ventilators and PPE,” Hunt said. “At the same time we are working on plans to resume travel from India to support Australians to get home.” The officials also announced that Australia’s support for the COVID-19 vaccine roll out in the Pacific and Timor-Leste has provided an initial delivery of 20,000 Australian-manufactured vaccines from national stocks to Timor-Leste along with medical supplies to support Timor-Leste’s COVID-19 response. This builds on the more than 56 tonnes of humanitarian, medical and PPE supplies delivered to Timor-Leste last month. Six Australian Medical Assistance Team (AUSMAT) specialists are currently in Dili working to support local health authorities in their COVID-19 response. Also, 10,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses will be delivered to Fiji this week. Australia will procure vaccine stocks, under a partnership agreement with UNICEF, of up to 6 million COVID-19 doses for the Pacific and Timor-Leste in 2021. This commitment is in addition to Australia’s A$80 million contribution to the multilateral COVAX Facility’s Advance Market Commitment for developing countries. More than 275,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses have already been delivered by COVAX to Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Tuvalu and Nauru. For Editorial Inquiries Contact: Editor Kym Bergmann at [email protected] For Advertising Inquiries Contact: Director of Sales Graham Joss at [email protected]