India Gifts COVID Vaccines To 17 Nations, Sends 56 Lakh Doses To Help Them

It seems India's vaccine diplomacy is at full display.?India has gifted 56 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to a number of countries while 100 lakh doses were sent under commercial supplies, the ministry of external affairs said on Thursday.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said Indian vaccines are scheduled to reach the Caribbean countries, Pacific Island states, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Mongolia, in the coming weeks.

PTI

Vaccine diplomacy?

"We have so far supplied vaccines to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Brazil, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait and South Africa," he said at a media briefing.?

"Supplies made under grant amount to 56 lakh doses and commercial supplies amount to over 100 lakh doses," he added.Srivastava said external supplies of vaccines are an ongoing process, depending on availability and domestic requirements.

The list includes Bhutan (1.5 lakh), Maldives (1 lakh), Nepal (10 lakh), Bangladesh (20 lakh), Myanmar (15 lakh), Mauritius (1 lakh), Seychelles (50,000), Sri Lanka (5 lakhs), Bahrain (1 lakh) and Oman (1 lakh).?

ANI

Who's next?

Over the next few days, New Delhi plans to gift 5 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccines to CARICOM countries (Caribbean Community), and another 2 lakh doses each to Nicaragua and the Pacific Island states. "In the coming weeks, Indian vaccines are scheduled to reach CARICOM countries (the Caribbean), Pacific Island States, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Mongolia etc," he said.??

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The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is a grouping of 20 island nations which are home to approximately 16 million people.

In addition, India's commercial supply of Covid-19 vaccines is likely to make them available in Saudi Arabia, Canada and Mongolia among other nations.??

In a major announcement, India on January 19 said it will send COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to several countries, including Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius.India is one of the world's biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the coronavirus vaccines.

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India's vaccination drive

In just 18 days after rolling out the largest vaccination drive, India has succeeded in vaccinating more than 4 million healthcare workers. Vaccination drive was started in India on January 16 this year and as of February 4, 2021, as many as 44,49,552 healthcare workers have received their first vaccine jab.?

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The data was shared by the Ministry of Health and family Welfare. The ministry noted that in the last 24 hours, 3,10,604 new workers have also been vaccinated. Till February 2, India touched the 4-million mark in terms of vaccination and this was achieved in just 18 days, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said in a tweet. This is the fastest vaccination done across the world.