India is carrying out contractual supplies of coronavirus vaccines to Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Brazil, Morocco, Bangladesh and Myanmar, the Foreign Ministry (MEA) said on Friday. MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told a news conference that India has so far sent shipments of coronavirus vaccines under a grant to Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Seychelles.
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When asked whether India is shipping the vaccines to Pakistan, Srivastava said he was not aware of any requests for their supply from Pakistan on a government-to-government or commercial basis. He said commercial shipments of the vaccines have already been sent to Brazil and Morocco on Friday.
READ | India to send COVID-19 ‘Covishield’ vaccine to Myanmar, Seychelles and Mauritius
On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of the Covisheild vaccine to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives as a grant. India delivered two million doses of the Covisheild vaccine to Bangladesh on Thursday and one million doses to Nepal under grants, while a shipment containing 1.5 million doses was sent to Myanmar, 50,000 doses to Seychelles on Friday.
“Taking into account the national requirements of the phase-in, India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner. It will ensure that domestic manufacturers have adequate stocks to meet national requirements while supplying the foreigner, “said Srivastava.
Srivastava said the grant-assisted coronavirus vaccine supplies will be made to Sri Lanka and Afghanistan after obtaining confirmation of regulatory clearances. “Acting East. Acting fast. Indian vaccines have come to Myanmar to contribute to our neighbor’s vaccination efforts,” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeted. “Indian vaccines reach Seychelles. That’s what friends are for,” he said in another tweet.
In a major announcement, India said on Tuesday that it will ship COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles starting Wednesday and that supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will begin after the confirmation of the necessary regulatory authorizations. .
India is one of the largest drug manufacturers in the world, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for coronavirus vaccines. India has already launched a massive coronavirus vaccination campaign under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are administered to front-line healthcare workers across the country.
While Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech.
India had previously supplied hydroxychloroquine, remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them cope with the pandemic.
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