Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet Joe Biden on September 24 in Washington, DC, to discuss issues related to security and developments in Afghanistan.  

On his three-day visit to the US, PM Modi will be meeting world leaders at the first Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) summit in Washington, DC. This marks his first foreign trip in six months.  

The US Food and Drug Administration and Centres for Disease Prevention and Control requires international travellers, who are not vaccinated by either of the three vaccines authorised by CDC, WHO, or the FDA, to quarantine for seven days upon arrival. Therefore, this would be applicable to PM Narendra Modi too according to Newsweek.

For those unversed, PM Modi has been administered with Covaxin, which is not approved under CDC rules. 

Covaxin is the first domestically produced vaccine of India with an efficacy of 93.4% against severe COVID-19. This was found out in phase three trials by Bharat Biotech. The vaccine is made by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology.

The WHO, CDC and FD have, however, not approved the vaccine. FDA has approved only one vaccine so far, which is the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. Additionally, the Moderna and Janssen (produced by Johnson & Johnson) vaccines have been authorized for emergency use. 

There are many other vaccines, such as the Russian-made Sputnik vaccine and the Chinese-made Sinovac, that are being used out of the United States and have not been authorised by the US. These vaccines have been found to be equally effective at preventing severe COVID-19, as per studies. 

The Prime Minister will also address the UN General Assembly in New York and hold bi-lateral meetings with other Quad leaders.