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Business News/ News / India/  Covishield sent to Mauritius, Seychelles, India attains VaccineMaitri commitment

Covishield sent to Mauritius, Seychelles, India attains VaccineMaitri commitment

  • The spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Anurag Srivastava posted pictures of SII's Covidshiled vaccines being dispatched to Mauritius and Seychelles
  • From today, India will start commercial export of vaccine

Covishield sent to Mauritius, Seychelles, India fulfils VaccineMaitri commitment

With Serum India Institute's Covishield consignments dispatched to Mauritius, Seychelles, India fulfills its Vaccine Maitri commitment under which the country promised to ship Covid 19 vaccines to six of its neighbors as a goodwill gesture.

On Friday, the spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Anurag Srivastava was the first person to post pictures on Twitter, saying Consignments of Indian made Covid vaccines being airlifted for Seychelles and Mauritius!

Earlier this week, India had announced a vaccine rollout for Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday which comes in line with its Neighbourhood First Policy. The only neighbour absent from India's list apart from China, is regional rival Pakistan, which had not requested assistance, according to an Indian government official.

After the official announcement, Prime Minister Narendra on January 19 said: India is deeply honoured to be a long-trusted partner in meeting the healthcare needs of the global community.

India started delivering the vaccine from January 20. On the first day, consigments were sent to Bhutan and Maldives. On Day 2, Covid jabs were sent to Bangladesh, Nepal, while Covishield consignments were dispatch to Myanmar and Seychelles on Friday.

With the last consignment being dispatched, India today complete its Vaccine Maitri commitment which Foreign Minister expressed as an extension of friendship. Meanwhile, on the same day, the government has cleared commercial exports of COVID-19 vaccines, with the first consignments to be shipped to Brazil and Morocco.

The shots developed by UK-based drugmaker AstraZeneca and Oxford University are being manufactured at the Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest producer of vaccines, which has received orders from countries across the world.

How Vaccine Maitri enhanced relationship

Bhutan

On January 20, an Indian Air Force aircraft delivered the first consignment of 150,000 doses of Covishield vaccines to Bhutan, making it the first country to receive the gift from India.

Bhutanese Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji thanked India for the "generous gift" saying: Deeply grateful to GoI for its abiding friendship and unconditional support to Bhutan's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic

"Our profound gratitude to the GoI for the generous gift of 150,000 doses of Covishield vaccines that Bhutan received today. Deeply grateful to GoI for its abiding friendship and unconditional support to Bhutan's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," he said on Twitter.

Maldives

The Maldives also received 100,000 doses of Covid 19 vaccines from India under grants assistance in sync with its 'neighbourhood first' policy.

In a tweet, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the vaccines.

"A short while ago, a flight from India with a 100,000 doses of the CoviShield vaccine arrived in the Maldives, renewing our hopes for a resolution to the Covid 19 crisis soon. Our heartfelt thanks to PM @narendramodi," he said.

Nepal

India on Thursday provided one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Nepal under grant assistance, the Minister for Health and Population Hridayesh Tripathi said. The first installment of the vaccines will be shipped on Thursday.

Apart from the latest round of vaccines to Nepal, India earlier had provided Nepal with medical equipment, medicines and other logistical support to fight the pandemic. The Nepal Government plans to inoculate 72 percent of its citizens, a country that has a population of nearly 30 million.

KP Oli took to Twitter to say, I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi as well as the Government and people of India for the generous grant of one million doses of COVID vaccine to Nepal at this critical time when India is rolling out vaccination for it's own people.

Bangladesh

As India handed over 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under grant assistance, Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said, "India had stood by Bangladesh during the (1971) Liberation War, and today, when the pandemic is rattling the world, India again came with gifts of vaccines."

The vaccines were given to Bangladesh at a crucial time when the number of coronavirus cases in the nation continues to rise and has reached 529,687 till Thursday.

Mauritius

One lakh doses of the Covishield vaccine is slated to arrive in Mauritius on Friday afternoon.

Seychelles

A consignment of 50,000 doses of the Covishield vaccine is scheduled to reach Seychelles today, which is among the four Indian Ocean countries to receive the Covishield vaccine.

Seychelles has around 1 lakh inhabitants and the 50,000 doses will thus be able to cover nearly 25% of the total Seychelles population. Seychelles was almost coronavirus free till December 2020.

However, a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases has been reported since December resulting in a public health scare in the country.

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