Health

India’s vaccine outreach: 58 million doses to 70 countries in 50 days

New Delhi, Mar 11 (efe-epa).- India sent more than 58 million doses of Covid-19 jabs to nearly 70 countries as part of its vaccine diplomacy initiative launched 50 days ago to extend its global influence and keep the flock of its allies together.

The ambitious diplomacy campaign, dubbed “Vaccine Maitri” (the vaccine friendship) as part of India’s neighborhood first policy, began on Jan.20 with 100,000 doses sent to the Maldives and 150,000 to Bhutan.

Less than two months since the government has already shipped 58.3 million doses across the world, an official statement said Thursday.

India is currently manufacturing two vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin.

Covishield, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer.

Covaxin is India’s homegrown vaccine developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The government statement said it donated 8 million coronavirus vaccine doses to 35 countries, including Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka.

It also provided vaccines to Latin American countries like Guatemala and Nicaragua.

The country sold vaccine doses to Mexico, Brazil, El Salvador, Argentina, and the Dominican Republic.

According to the statement, the country sold a total of 33.8 million doses to 22 countries. These include Morocco, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Ukraine, Canada, and Serbia.

The country also participated in the global vaccine distribution program promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure equal access to jabs against coronavirus.

India’s took part in the WHO’s Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, by sending a total of 16.4 million vaccines to countries like Ghana, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo Africa, Angola, Nigeria, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Mali, Sudan, Liberia, Uganda, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, and Ethiopia.

The vaccine supply campaign in India, considered “the pharmacy of the world” for its high production of generic drugs at low prices for developing countries, is carried simultaneously along with its ambitious vaccination plan initiated on Jan.16 to immunize 300 million people within six months. EFE-EPA

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