India has sent 550,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bhutan

The friendship between India, Kuwait, and Bhutan will be engraved in the pages of history and remembered by many as a ‘role model’, said the ambassador of Kuwait in Bhutan Fadel Alhasan on Saturday.

Thanking India for sending vaccines to Bhutan and Kuwait, Alhasan said, “Thanks to the commitment by Excellency Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The vaccine has arrived in Bhutan Thimphu.

More than 90 percent of eligible people have received the first dose of India made vaccines. The Serum Institute of India has provided 200,000 doses of vaccines to Kuwait. India has proved once again that it is a good friend that we can count in the difficult times. History will always remember the India-Bhutan-Kuwait friendship is a role model.”

India has sent 550,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bhutan. The country received the first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine Covishield as a gift from India in January.

In March, Bhutan thanked India for making the nationwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the Himalayan country possible, as it received additional 400,000 doses of Covishield from India.

As a reflection of the special bonds of trust and understanding between India and Bhutan that have existed over decades, the Indian government had earlier handed over ten consignments of medical supplies, one portable X-Ray machine, essential medicines and medical equipment in addition to the vaccine consignments.

Meanwhile, Kuwait has also received 200,000 doses of India made Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccines.

Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, 6.45 crore doses of made-in-India vaccines have been supplied to 85 nations across the world, as a result of such direct grants, commercial sales by both producers based in India having entered into bilateral contracts or through the Covax initiative, according to the data with the MEA.