HECTOR CUEVA JACOME was one of the 60 diplomats who went to Hyderabad on a ministry of external affairs (MEA) excursion to see India’s vaccine production facilities last December. Jacome, the ambassador of Ecuador to India, and his wife, Toya Cardenas, then signed up to participate in the clinical trials of Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine for Covid-19, by Bharat Biotech. The couple took the jab earlier in January and are now waiting for their second shot on February 2.
“We are fine. No [adverse] reactions, no side effects,” he says. Jacome’s participation in the trial goes a long way in removing apprehensions around the safety of the vaccine. “It was not a decision I took on the spur of the moment,” says Jacome. “I have been in India for eight years. More than a diplomat, I am a man of science. I trust India when it comes to medicines and vaccines.”
Ecuador may be a small country in South America with a population of just 1.74 crore, a mere fraction of New Delhi’s. However, Jacome’s assertion of faith in India’s pharma sector is a welcome one for South Block’s new diplomatic outreach, Vaccine Maitri. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s “thank you” to India, in which he depicted Lord Hanuman flying over the seas, carrying the new sanjeevani—the vaccine—was another eyeball-grabbing endorsement aimed at, and will be noticed by, global audiences. It also ironed out creases caused by Brazil seeking the vaccine before India was ready to sell.
This story is from the February 07, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the February 07, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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