Bangladesh and Nepal on Thursday received COVID-19 vaccines from India under grants assistance. "Nepal receives Indian vaccines. Putting neighbours first, putting people first!," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter. "Touchdown in Dhaka. #VaccineMaitri reaffirms the highest priority accorded by India to relations with Bangladesh," he said in another tweet, along with a photograph of Air India flight that carried the consignments to Dhaka. It is learnt that two million doses of Covisheild vaccines were sent to Bangladesh, while Nepal was supplied one million doses.
On Wednesday, India sent 150,000 doses of Covisheild vaccines to Bhutan and 100,000 doses to the Maldives. In a major announcement, India on Tuesday said it will send COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday and supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will commence after confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances. India is one of the world's biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring the coronavirus vaccines. India has already rolled out a massive coronavirus vaccination drive under which two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, are being administered to frontline health workers across the country.
While Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield is being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and the Covaxin is being produced by Bharat Biotech. The MEA said it will be ensured that domestic manufacturers will have adequate stocks to meet domestic requirements while supplying abroad. India had earlier supplied hydroxychloroquine, Remdesivir and paracetamol tablets, as well as diagnostic kits, ventilators, masks, gloves and other medical supplies to a large number of countries to help them deal with the pandemic.
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