India will resume the export and donations of excess vaccines next month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced on Monday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the US where the issue was likely to be raised by President Joe Biden.
India, the world’s biggest maker of vaccines overall, stopped vaccine exports in April to focus on inoculating its own population as infections exploded.
The government wants to vaccinate all of its 94.4 crore adults by December and has so far given at least one dose to 61 per cent of them.
Mandaviya told the media that India will resume vaccine exports to fulfil the country’s commitment towards the world in the collective fight against COVID.
This announcement has come just a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US where the issue of vaccine export was likely going to be raised by US President, Joe Biden.
Addressing the media, Mandaviya said that this is an effort to restart the ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme to meet the country’s Covax global pool. However, he stressed that vaccinating the citizens of India is a top priority.
He further added that the government is expecting to receive over thirty crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines in October and over a hundred crore doses in the next three months.
Vaccines are going to be a part of the discussion at a summit of the leaders of the Quad countries – the United States, India, Japan and Australia.
