India, which began exporting the Astrazeneca and Oxford coronavirus vaccine doses last Wednesday, has also sent supplies to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles.
After receiving 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from India, Brazil President Jair M Bolsonaro thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for vaccine export saying he feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts.
India, which began exporting the Astrazeneca and Oxford coronavirus vaccine doses last Wednesday, has also sent supplies to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles.
“Namaskar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad,” Bolsonaro said.
In his tweet, Bolsonaro shared an illustration that shows Lord Hanuman carrying a mountain with vaccines from India to Brazil. In Ramayana, there is a tale in which Hanuman carries the entire mountain to deliver Sanjeevani Booti, a magical life-saving herb, to save wounded Lakshman, Lord Ram’s brother.
Replying to Bolsonaro’s tweet, PM Modi said both countries will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare. “The honour is ours, President Jair M. Bolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare, the Prime Minister tweeted.
External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar also took to Twitter to say, “Made in India vaccines arrive in Brazil.”
Also, calling the day historic, India’s Ambassador to Brazil said, “Today is a historic day in India-Brazil relations. Brazil is the first country to get such a consignment. PM Modi said we’ll make vaccine available to all countries & we’ll continue to work towards that & I wish you good luck in your efforts.”
According to Brazil’s Health Ministry, the vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, landed in Sao Paulo before being flown to Rio de Janeiro, where Brazil’s state-run Fiocruz Institute is based. Fiocruz has an agreement to produce and distribute the vaccine.
According to Brazilian public health experts, the 2 million doses from India only scratch the surface of the shortfall and far more doses will be needed to cover priority groups in the nation of 210 million people.
“Counting doses from Butantan (a Sao Paulo state research institute) and those from India, there isn’t enough vaccine and there is no certainty about when Brazil will have more, or how much,” said M’rio Scheffer, professor of preventive medicine at the University of Sao Paulo.
Brazil has recorded 2,14,000 deaths related to COVID-19, the second-highest total in the world after the United States, and infections and deaths surging again.
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