New Delhi, March 14: India has supplied over 5 crore 86 lakh doses of Made in India COVID vaccines to nearly 71 countries till date. Out of the total, over 81 lakh doses have been supplied free of cost as grant aid to 37 countries whereas 1 crore 65 lakh doses have been supplied under the COVAX facility route to around 31 countries.

Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius , Sri Lanka, Seychelles, Bahrain , Oman and Afghanistan including others were amongst the first countries to receive the Indian Vaccines through the grant aid route under the 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative. COVAX is an unique global collaboration with more than two-third of the countries in the world engaged together in order to ensure equitable supply of COVID vaccines. COVAX Scheme: WHO Hopes to Receive 50 Million Doses of COVID-19 Vaccine in First Quarter of 2021 Through Its Global Initiative.

The Ministry of External Affairs has informed that over 3 crore 39 lakh vaccine doses have also been sent to 24 different countries on commercial basis. It added that many countries have been supplied the Made in India Vaccines through multiple modes which includes both as grant aid as well as through COVAX facility. India began its ‘Vaccine Maitri’ to supply Covid vaccine to different nations more than one and half month ago.

Following requests from various countries for the supply of Indian-manufactured vaccines, the government had started the supply of Covid vaccine on 20th January to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles under the grant assistance. The External Affairs Ministry has said that this is being done in keeping with India’s stated commitment to using India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity to help everyone fight the Covid pandemic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 14, 2021 05:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).