‘Pharmacy of the world’ India exports vaccines
This file photo shows Bolivia’s President Luis Arce speaking during the signing ceremony of the agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the purchase of 5mn of COVID-19 vaccines from the AstraZeneca laboratory, at the Casa Grande del Pueblo palace, in La Paz on January 13
New Delhi, India - India exported its first batch of locally produced coronavirus shots on Wednesday, officials said, as the world’s biggest vaccine manufacturer scrambled to meet requests from other countries desperate to protect their populations.
The Maldives and Bhutan will be the first recipients of India’s coronavirus vaccine, while Brazil and South Africa are also among those on the waiting list.
Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter that the ‘Pharmacy of the World will deliver to overcome the COVID challenge’.
In January, Indian regulators approved two vaccines - one, Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by India's
Serum Institute, and the other Covaxin, made by local firm Bharat Biotech.
‘A short while ago, a flight from India with a 100,000 doses of the CoviShield vaccine arrived in the Maldives, renewing our hopes for a resolution to the Covid 19 crisis soon. Our heartfelt thanks to PM @narendramodi, government and people of India for this most generous gift,’ The Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih tweeted after vaccines reached his country.
India also gifted 150,000 Covishield vaccines to Bhutan, its neighbour on the northeast.
‘Our profound gratitude to the GoI [government of India] for the generous gift of 150,000 doses of Covishield vaccines that Bhutan received today. Deeply grateful to GoI for its abiding friendship and unconditional support to Bhutan’s fight against the COVID-19 pandemic’, Bhutan’s Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji wrote on Twitter.
Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles will follow shortly, New Dehli said.
India plans to offer 20mn doses to its South Asian neighbours, Bloomberg News reported last week, with others in Latin America, Africa and Central Asia next in line.
The Serum Institute, the world’s biggest vaccine maker by volume, also plans to supply 200mn doses to Covax, a World Health Organization-backed effort to procure and distribute inoculations to poor countries.
Meanwhile, Covaxin’s maker Bharat Biotech last week signed a deal with a Brazilian firm and is ramping up annual production to 700mn doses, a spokesperson told financial outlet the Mint Daily on Wednesday.