India is home to the Serum Institute of India, the worlds largest vaccine maker. But vaccine production has lagged behind the needs of Indias 1.3 billion people. Adar Poonawalla, the institutes chief executive, appealed to Mr. Biden in mid-April over Twitter.
I humbly request you to lift the embargo of raw material exports out of the U.S. so that vaccine production can ramp up, he wrote.
But until Sunday, the administration resisted. Asked on Thursday why America would not lift its ban, Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, told reporters that the United States first and foremost is engaged in an ambitious and effective and, so far, successful effort to vaccinate the American people.
The resistance was met with criticism from Indian politicians and health experts.
By stockpiling vaccines & blocking the export of crucial raw materials needed for vaccine production, the United States is undermining the strategic Indo-US partnership, Milind Deora, a politician from Mumbai, one of the hardest-hit cities, said on Twitter.
In addition to assisting India with protective gear and raw materials, Ms. Horne said on Sunday that the United States would deploy a team of public health advisers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Jeffrey Gettleman contributed reporting from New Delhi, and Chris Cameron from Washington.
