The Maldives will become the first country to receive the Indian COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday. The Indian Ocean Island country will receive Oxford Astrazeneca’s Covishield vaccine produced by Serum Institute of India. The Maldives government has given all regulatory approvals and permissions.
The consignment is set to land at 2 pm at Velana International Airport, Malé via an Air India flight. “It reaffirms India’s reputation as the first responder in any emergency situation,” the source said. The Maldives is now the largest Covid-19 assistance recipient in India’s neighbourhood including medicine supply, food supply, medical team, training and financial assistance of $250 million.
Since Maldives has a population of about 500,000, India’s grant will cover the vaccination of a significant percentage of the population. In addition, the Maldives plans to buy 300,000 doses from Serum Institute at commercial rates. India’s grants are part of plans to provide up to 10 million doses of both Covidshield and Covaxin, the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech, to friendly countries, the people cited above said.
According to a report in The Economic Times, India also plans to export 8.1 lakh doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin to Oman, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bahrain, Mauritius, Philippines and Maldives. Serum Institute of India, too, will supply a few lakh doses of Covishield to Seychelles, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. Both companies have also signed deals with other foreign countries for the supply of vaccines. While Serum has signed a deal with South Africa to supply 1.5 million doses of the vaccines, Bharat Biotech has a deal with Brazil’s association of private health clinics to supply Covaxin.
India has procured 16.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, including 11 million Covishield shots. It plans to secure more shots later this month. In the first phase of vaccinations, India is planning to inoculate 30 million healthcare and frontline workers. In the second phase—expected to be completed by August—people above 50 years of age and those below 50 but with severe comorbidities will be vaccinated.
