Will prioritise utilising vaccines for own vaccination drive over exports: India

India on June 24 said its stand on COVID-19 vaccine exports has been that it will depend on its domestic needs. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi asserted that right now, the priority remains utilising made-in-India jabs for its own inoculation drive. The assertion by Bagchi came at an online media briefing in response to queries on media reports on possible exports of vaccines from India to Bangladesh. "Our position on the issue of vaccine exports has been consistent and clear. We have always stated that overseas supply of vaccines from India would depend on vaccine availability and our domestic vaccination programme," Bagchi said.

 

"For the moment our priority remains on utilising made-in-India vaccines for our own vaccination programme which as you know has received a boost with the new phase of vaccination that was launched earlier this week on June 21," he said. Bagchi said India is also making efforts to further increase its domestic vaccine production. Asked when would Pfizer's vaccine be available in India, the MEA spokesperson emphasised that the government of India is making all efforts to augment vaccine availability in the country be it through domestic production or imports. "As regards the specific vaccines and the status of their imports into India, this is a matter for the concerned regulatory authorities," he added.

 

Bagchi also said India hopes that as the COVID-19 situation in the country continues to improve, other nations would take steps to normalize travel with India. "We have seen some initial steps in this regard. The government will continue to prioritise this issue," he said. Asked which countries have shown interest in using or adapting CoWin application, the digital platform that helped India launch and implement a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination programme, Bagchi pointed out that during his intervention at the recent G-7 meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered to share India's experience and expertise in the successful use of open source digital tools in contact tracing and vaccine management.

 

"In pursuance of this, the National Health Authority proposes to organise an event with partner countries across the world to share details of the indigenously developed CoWin App, which has been at the centre of our vaccination drive," he said.

 

"We will provide further updates once the details of the event have been firmed up," Bagchi added.