India has decided on Monday that it will send a limited number of coronavirus vaccine doses to its friendly nations as a gesture of goodwill. India will do this to meet the needs of our closest countries.
Allied countries to whom limited doses of the Corona vaccine will be given are Mongolia, Oman, Myanmar, Philippines, Bahrain, Maldives, Mauritius. Bharat Biotech COVAXIN will sent 8.1 lakh doses to these countries. While Bhutan, Seychelles, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Nepal will be given 25 million doses of COVISHIELD vaccine of Serum Institute. In previous months India had sent HCQ and Paracetamol to about 140 countries in a goodwill gesture.
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An official informed that both these vaccines will be supplied on a government to government mode. Their recovery and maintenance will be done by the Ministry of External Affairs.
The decision was taken by the officials in a meeting convened by the Ministry of Health, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Pharmaceutical Department. An official said, “In the meeting today, it was decided that India will cater to its own needs and will set aside vaccines for neighbouring countries.”
In India the vaccination drive has started in the country and on the first day i.e. January 16, more than two lakh people were given the Corona vaccine.
In the first phase of corona vaccination, health workers and frontline workers will be vaccinated and then those over 50 years of age will be vaccinated. Doses of COVISHIELD of Serum Institute and COVAXIN of Bharat Biotech are being available in the country.