India starts exporting coronavirus vaccines, as its own inoculation drive fails to meet targets
- Neighbours including Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles will receive supplies of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine
- Bharat Biotech warned some to avoid its shot, as officials appealed to frontline workers not to refuse vaccines amid safety concerns
“First consignment takes off for Bhutan!” Anurag Srivastava, spokesman for the Ministry of External Affairs, said on Twitter. “India begins supply of Covid vaccines to its neighbouring and key partner countries.”
Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, said it soon expected emergency use authorisation from the World Health Organization (WHO) for the easy-to-store vaccine, which it has been licensed to make.
The foreign ministry said shipments of millions of doses would start on Wednesday following requests from “neighbouring and key partner countries”. Officials said the first doses would go to Bhutan and the Maldives, while Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles will also get supplies in this week’s first phase.
The Bangladesh foreign ministry said it expected to receive a gift of 2 million doses on Thursday. The country of 160 million, which has yet to start its vaccination programme, has ordered a further 30 million doses, officials said.