COVID vaccine export not banned by Centre, supply to be done in phases: Report

A day after a media report said that India has banned the export of anti-COVID vaccine in order to meet the rising demands of vaccinations in the nation, another report says that the supply of shots has not been stopped rather it will be done in a phased manner. 

According to another report by news agency Reuters, a government source on Thursday said that in the wake of domestic requirements of the phased rollout, “India will continue to supply COVID-19 vaccines to partner countries over the coming weeks and months in a phased manner.”

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The source further said, “This position remains unchanged. We have not imposed any ban on exports of vaccines, unlike many other countries.”

The earlier report by Reuters said that the ban has been imposed on the export of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, made by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in collaboration with Oxford University, amid an upsurge of coronavirus cases in the nation and growing vaccination demands. 

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The move was also supposed to affect the supply to the global COVAX facility, under which nearly 64 low-income nations are to get shots from Serum Insitute, the Reuters report had said, quoting UNICEF, which is the programme’s procurement and distributing partner.

As of now, the SII has imported around 17.7 million AstraZeneca doses for the COVAX facility, while in general, it has shipped a total of 60.5 million shots, which include shipments to other nations too. 

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According to the foreign ministry’s website, India has not exported vaccines since last Thursday, March 18, in order to expand its own vaccination effort.