India to supply Covishield, Covaxin to other nations as goodwill gesture

India will be sending Serum Institute of India (SII)'s Covishield and the indigenous Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech to friendly nations as a goodwill gesture.

The Union Ministers for health and external affairs, representatives of the department of pharmaceuticals and executives from Bharat Biotech and SII met in Delhi on Monday to discuss supply of vaccines outside India.

India has decided to export 8.1 lakh doses of Covaxin to Oman, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bahrain, Mauritius, the Philippines and the Maldives as a goodwill gesture, The Economic Times reported citing sources.

Serum would supply a few lakh doses of Covishield to the Seychelles, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal, the report added.

Serum has apparently allotted 25 million doses for exports.

Before the vaccines can be supplied, all these countries need regulatory dossiers to be approved by their own authorities.

Both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India have also separately signed deals with foreign countries to supply vaccines.

Serum has signed a deal with South Africa to supply 1.5 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines. Bharat Biotech has a deal with Brazil's association of private health clinics to supply its Covaxin.

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