New Delhi: India on Tuesday announced to supply Covid-19 vaccines to as many as six key partner nations from January 20. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in an official statement said India has received several requests for the supply of Indian manufactured vaccines from neighbouring and key partner countries. ALSO READ | Who Should Not Take Covaxin Shot? Bharat Biotech Releases Fact-Sheet Amid Concerns Over Side-Effects
“In response to these requests, and in keeping with India’s stated commitment to use India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity to help all of humanity fight the Covid pandemic, supplies under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles will begin from 20 January 2021,” the MEA said, adding India is awaiting the confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances in respect of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius.
Asserting that the immunization programme is being implemented in India, as in other countries, in a phased manner to cover the healthcare providers, frontline workers and the most vulnerable, the MEA said: “Keeping in view the domestic requirements of the phased rollout, India will continue to supply Covid-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner.”
“It will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad,” the statement added.
The MEA informed a training programme, covering administrative and operational aspects, is being conducted on January 19 and 20 for immunization managers, cold chain officers, communication officers and data managers of the recipient countries, both at national and provincial levels prior to the delivery of vaccines.
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The MEA said that India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“India has also provided training to several neighbouring countries to enhance and strengthen their clinical capabilities, under the Partnerships for Accelerating Clinical Trials (PACT) programme. Separately, several training courses have been organized for healthcare workers and administrators of partner countries under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme, sharing our experience in dealing with the pandemic,” the MEA added.
Asserting that India in an ongoing effort will continue to supply countries all over the world with vaccines, the MEA said: “This will be calibrated against domestic requirements and international demand and obligations, including under GAVI’s Covax facility to developing countries.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also said that supplies of Coronavirus vaccines to several countries will commence from Wednesday, adding more will follow in the days ahead. “India is deeply honoured to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community,” he tweeted.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">India is deeply honoured to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community. Supplies of Covid vaccines to several countries will commence tomorrow, and more will follow in the days ahead. <a >#VaccineMaitri</a> <a >https://t.co/9Czfkuk8h7</a></p>— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a >January 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
India, last week, rolled out world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive under which two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - are being administered to frontline health workers across the country. While Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield has been manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, Covaxin was produced by Bharat Biotech.