By Krishnan Nayar
NEW DELHI/UAE, (WAM) – India said on Thursday it has supplied seven Arab countries with its COVID-19 vaccine.
“We have so far supplied vaccines to the UAE, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco,” the spokesman of the ministry of external affairs, Anurag Srivastava, said, adding other countries such as Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Brazil and South Africa, have also received vaccines from India.
“Supplies made under grant amount to 5.6 million doses and commercial supplies amount to over 10 million doses,” he went on to say.
Egypt, Algeria and Kuwait are the latest recipients of Indian vaccines in the Arab world. The Emirates News Agency (WAM) had reported on Tuesday that the Dubai Health Authority (DHA) received the first shipment of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from India.
The UAE ambassador to India, Dr Ahmed Al Banna, tweeted the gratitude to India for the Covishield-AstraZeneca vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India. The Ambassador said, “the supply of the vaccines follows the ongoing cooperation and collaboration between the UAE and India across various fields, including in dealing with the COVID-19 global pandemic.”
Srivastava said, “Exports of Indian vaccines are an ongoing process, depending on availability and domestic requirements.” In coming weeks, Indian vaccines are scheduled to reach CARICOM countries in the Caribbean, Pacific Island States, Nicaragua, Afghanistan and Mongolia.
WAM/ Ibrahim Shukralla – WAM/MOHD AAMIR