Indian COVID Vaccine Exports Ramped Up To Bridge Supply Gap
As nations worldwide work on administering the vaccine to people and global vaccine companies are grappling to meet demands, India plans to ramp up COVID-19 vaccines that will be supplied to sixty nations in the next few months. A government-drawn list contains at least 2 dozen countries receiving a supply of vaccines from New Delhi or supplied in the coming days. These countries include Kuwait, Algeria, Nicaragua, Barbados, Egypt, and the Dominican Republic, apart from Samoa and the Marshall Islands situated outside our country’s usual influence area. Around 60 countries have submitted both informal and formal requests for the vaccines so far.
In the capital city’s general and extended neighbourhood, an initial number of 5.5 million vaccine doses were supplied to Mauritius and Seychelles as either “gifts” or “grants in aid.” Additionally, India will be shipping 27 million doses on a commercial basis. Nepal will be receiving some at a concession.
A 2-tier system that consists of ministers and an empowered officials’ group of the ministries for pharmaceuticals
, health, foreign, and finance makes the decisions on the Indian COVID vaccine exports. Requests from abroad, as well as domestic requirements, are handled by them. Export decisions are made after meticulous consideration of domestic supplies such as domestic needs and manufacturing capacity.Rajiv Gauba, the cabinet secretary and Pramod Kumar Mishra – the PM’s principal secretary are updated periodically by the empowered secretaries’ group. Additionally, New Delhi holds regular interactions with Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India to help them acquire regulatory clearances in the other nations.
Meanwhile, global companies are unable to keep up with assured vaccine deliveries. While the UK, the US, and Isreal have led vaccination campaigns, the European Union has lagged. This comes as a backdrop to news of Indian COVID vaccine exports.
PM Narendra Modi gave his first Mann ki Baat speech of 2021, saying that our country is running the largest vaccination campaign in the world. He also mentioned that 3 million frontline healthcare workers had been vaccinated in 15 days in New Delhi. Modi expressed his pride that India’s vaccine is being distributed globally is a major step towards a self-reliant India. The Indian culture’s uniqueness that New Delhi, while meeting internal needs, also supplies the vaccines worldwide.
The self-reliant India campaign is underlined by India’s achievements in vaccine and medicine development in times of crisis. The PM said that increase in our country’s self-reliance only raises profits for the world as a whole. The previous day PM Modi had spoken about India’s vital role in the post-pandemic shaping of the world with the NDA (National Democratic Alliance).
Analysts said that the Indian COVID vaccine exports would place New Delhi in a good position as India enhances its role as the “pharmacy to the world” with the supply and takes on a larger role in world affairs.
