Covid-19: India to make J&J vaccine as part of Quad plan

Washington - US, India, Japan and Australia launch joint drive to ramp up the Covid-19 vaccine supply in Asia.

The United States, India, Japan and Australia have launched a joint drive to ramp up the Covid-19 vaccine supply in Asia in the first-ever summit of the four democracies on Friday.

US President Joe Biden was set Friday to speak virtually for around 90 minutes with the three nations' prime ministers.

Ahead of the talks, US officials said the so-called "Quad" nations have agreed to work together to produce up to one billion vaccine doses by 2022 as the world seeks to turn the page on the devastation of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The plan would see pharmaceutical hub India manufacturing the single-dose vaccine from US-based Johnson & Johnson backed by financial support from Japan, with Australia taking charge of shipments.

"What we've tried to put together is a broad-based approach that addresses the acute shortage of vaccines across Southeast Asia in particular," a US official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

The Quad format has been growing for more than a decade, but Friday's talks are the first at the leaders' level.

State Department spokesman Ned Price said that the Quad is not focused "on any single issue".

"We have shared interests in standing up for universal values and rights. We have shared economic interests. We have shared security interests. We have deep people-to-people ties with all of these countries," Price said.