India Ships COVID Vaccines After Commercial Export Approval

India is gearing up to supply covid vaccines to other countries as the country has become one of the strongholds of manufacturing the vaccines.

The Oxford coronavirus vaccine called ‘covidshield’ is being manufactured by a Pune-based Indian company the Serum Institute and this will be commercially shipped to countries like Brazil and Morocco.

Fulfilling Vaccine Requests of Other Nations

Serum Institute of India, the largest producer of covid vaccines in the world has already received orders from several countries for this and now the Indian government has approved the commercial exports of the covid vaccines. First consignments of the vaccines are already on their way to Brazil and Morocco as it was shipped on Friday, said, the Indian Foreign Secretary.

Representation Image – Credits: nautilusint.org

One of the biggest sufferers of the pandemic, Brazil, had previously urged India to supply the AstraZeneca vaccine. Presently, the country has the second-highest covid death toll after the USA. India agreed to supply 2 million doses manufactured by the Serum Institute.

According to Indian Officials “Countries like Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Morocco have also secured supplies from the Serum Institute”.

Vaccine Export for the Benefit of Mankind

Earlier the government prevented vaccine export to meet domestic demands and as soon as India began vaccinating people last weekend, the export restriction was lifted. Already the neighboring countries of Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, and Nepal received their consignments earlier this week.

This is in line with the Indian Prime Minister’s vision and strategy of using India’s production capacities for the benefit of mankind in the fight against the pandemic, said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla.

Commenting on the free supplies, Shringla said, “In keeping with this vision, we have responded positively to requests for supply of Indian manufactured vaccines from countries across the globe, starting with our neighbors”.

“Supply of commercially contracted quantities will also commence from tomorrow, starting with Brazil and Morocco, followed by South Africa and Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Reference: livemint.com

Source: Maritime Shipping News