India hands over 2 million vaccine doses to Bangladesh

India has supplied >2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under support programme, a senior minister stated on Thursday.

As Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Vikram Doraiswami handed over the vaccines to Bangladesh foreign minister, Dr. AK Abdul Momen, he (Dr. Momen) stated that during the (1971) Liberation War, India had stood by Bangladesh, and today, when the pandemic is spinning the globe, India has come again with vaccine offerings.

Health Minister, Mr. Zahid Maleque attended the function in which Dr. Momen referred to the New Delhi initiative as evidence of real Bangladesh-India alliance.

Mr. Doraiswami stated that India supplied the vaccines within one week of their deployment in India, in line with the consultation process in the virtual summit between Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi and Bangladesh's Prime Minister Mrs. Sheikh Hasina.

On January 16, 2021, anti-coronavirus vaccination started in India.

He said that his country gave prime importance to the relationship between India and Bangladesh as part of India's "Neighbourhood First" strategy, and the transfer of 20 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine was actually India's largest such delivery to any of the neighbouring countries.

Nepal has also been handed over 1 million related vaccines by India.

On Wednesday, India dispatched 150,000 doses of Covisheild vaccine to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives.

India is one of the world's leading drug manufacturers and has already been approached by a growing number of countries to procure coronavirus vaccines.

A major coronavirus vaccination campaign has already been introduced by India in which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are administered to frontline health workers across the country.

Although the Covishield of Oxford-AstraZeneca is produced by the Serum Institute, another vaccine, Covaxin is being manufactured by Bharat Biotech.

The Ministry of External Affairs has announced that it would ensure that domestic suppliers have sufficient stocks to fulfil domestic needs while supplying overseas supplies.

India had previously provided a large number of countries with hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as test kits, ventilators, goggles, gloves and other medical supplies to help them cope with the pandemic.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.