Under its ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative, India has supplied indigenously made vaccines to friendly nations and partner countries

Living up to its expectation of being the pharmacy of the world, India has supplied Covid-19 vaccines to 17 countries amounting to 56 lakh doses under grant and over 1 crore vaccines on a commercial basis.

Naming the countries supplied with vaccines by India so far, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday said Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, UAE, Brazil, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait and South Africa have already received Covishield vaccines.

Elaborating on the amount of doses supplied as gift and also under commercial arrangement, the MEA Spokesperson said, supplies made under grant assistance amount to 56 lakh doses while those dispatched on a commercial basis amount to over 1crore doses.

He informed that the next set of supplies would be for CARICOM (Caribbean) countries, Pacific Island states to Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Mongolia.

As the pharmacy of the world, India is committed to provide vaccines to needy countries to fight off the pandemic. Under its Maitri’ initiative India has supplied indigenously made vaccines to friendly nations and partner countries.

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday expressed her gratitude to Indian government and the people for the ‘most generous’ donation of COVID-19 vaccine doses.

She said, “I trust that you are well and safe. On behalf of my government and people, I wish to express gratitude to you, your government and the people of the Republic of India for its most generous donation of the Covishield vaccines (under the auspices of Oxford Astrazeneca).”

Meanwhile, referring to India’s proposal to vaccinate foreign diplomats in India, Srivastava reiterated that New Delhi has offered to vaccinate all members of the diplomatic community with India made vaccines. The prioritization will be in accordance with the established protocol, the MEA Spokesperson added.

He further informed that the modalities including the time frame are being worked out and that the programme will cover all foreign diplomats and their family members.