Will resume exporting Covid-19 vaccines from October: Mansukh Mandaviya

Mansukh Mandaviya Monday announced that Vaccine Maitri will resume “in order to fulfil the commitment of India towards COVAX".

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya on Monday announced that India, which is the leading global manufacturer of vaccines, will resume exporting Covid-19 vaccine doses from October this year.

Mandaviya Monday added that Vaccine Maitri, which is India’s initiative to provide Covid vaccines to countries around the world, will resume in the fourth quarter starting October this year. He added that decision to resume vaccine exports has been taken “in order to fulfil the commitment of India towards COVAX, in line with our motto Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”.

Mandaviya further added that the surplus supply of vaccines will be used to fulfil India’s commitment towards the world for putting up a collective fight against Covid-19.

COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and WHO.

Monday’s decision comes in the backdrop of India’s Covid-19 vaccination coverage surpassing the landmark figure of 80 crore doses.

In the first phase of the pandemic, India under the Vaccine Maitri initiative began exporting doses in its immediate neighbourhood, starting with the Maldives, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Myanmar, as also Mauritius and Seychelles.

Through the initiative, vaccines were supplied to 72 nations across geographies, including the smaller and more vulnerable nations in Africa.

The initiative came to a halt in April in the backdrop of the ferocious second wave when India was facing a shortage of Covid-19 vaccines for the domestic market.

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