‘In last few weeks, India has supplied jabs to many countries’

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said that after putting on hold Covid vaccine export to cater to domestic demand, India now has supplied jabs in the last few weeks to several countries, including Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iran, Paraguay and Indonesia.

In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said that since the start of the Vaccine Maitri Programme in January, India has supplied 723.435 lakh doses to 94 countries and two UN entities in the form of grant, commercial export or through COVAX.

"After holding the vaccine export to cater to the domestic demand first, in the last few weeks India has supplied vaccines to several countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Iran, Paraguay and Indonesia," Muraleedharan said.

On the number of vaccines which India proposes to distribute globally as part of international vaccine partnerships like COVAX, he said the exact volume of export of vaccines will be determined by domestic production and requirements of the national vaccination programme.

The government has taken initiatives to share medicines, vaccines, PPE, test kits and other medical and health products, training programmes, capacity building projects, genomic surveillance, recognition of vaccination certificates etc. as part of the global fight against COVID-19, Muraleedharan said.

To another question, he stated that according to details available with Indian missions and posts, the total number of Indian citizens who succumbed to COVID-19 abroad is 4,048.

A large number of casualties were reported from Saudi Arabia (1,154) followed by United Arab Emirates (894), Kuwait (668), Oman (551), Bahrain (200) and Qatar (109), according to the data provided by the minister.

Muraleedharan said India supplied COVID-19 related medical and other assistance, to over 150 countries since the beginning of the pandemic.

In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic during the second wave, support in the form of Covid-related equipment and medicines were received from 53 countries, he said.

These included various items from foreign governments, private companies and Indian associations abroad, Muraleedharan added.