Doing All We Can To Help India In Covid Crisis, Says White House

In interviews on several political shows Sunday, Biden administration officials emphasized the aid the U.S. has already delivered to its South Asian ally, including the first planeloads of medical supplies and supplemental oxygen to the country on Friday.

White House officials said Sunday that they are doing all they can to help India cope with the country's escalating coronavirus crisis, pushing back against criticism that the United States should be moving faster on actions such as waiving patent rights on vaccines. In interviews on several political shows Sunday, Biden administration officials emphasized the aid the U.S. has already delivered to its South Asian ally, including the first planeloads of medical supplies and supplemental oxygen to the country on Friday. The United States has also diverted raw materials for vaccines to India. "In a crisis of this speed and ferocity, we always wish we could move faster and do more. And we're proud of what we've done so far," national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on ABC's "This Week." "We are continuing to work to source additional critical materials to move them as fast as we can, both directly from the United States and also galvanizing partners around the world." A recent surge in coronavirus cases has sent the pandemic spiraling anew in India, which reported more than 400,000 new coronavirus cases Saturday, a new global record. People being treated for covid-19, the illness that can be caused by the novel coronavirus, have overwhelmed hospitals there, while images of mass cremations and funeral pyres burning overnight have spread worldwide.