A day after the Central government held a multi-ministerial meeting to discuss the probability of exporting Covid-19 vaccines, Bharat Biotech on Tuesday received a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, sources said.
Of the 45 lakh doses, over eight lakh shots will be supplied to friendly countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost as good will gesture, sources added.
Several countries have approached India for the procurement of the vaccines.
On Thursday, MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said the government is assessing the production schedules and availability of the Covid-19 vaccines, and any decision on their supply to other countries "may take some time".
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"The company (Bharat Biotech) was given a fresh letter of comfort recently for supplying another 45 lakh doses of Covaxin. The doses will be dispatched as when the ministry places orders with the company," sources told PTI.
After having received the government purchase order for 55 lakh doses, Bharat Biotech shipped the first batch of vaccines (each vial containing 20 doses) to Gannavaram (Vijayawada), Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Kurukshetra, Bangalore, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai and Lucknow.
Bharat Biotech said it has also donated 16.5 lakh doses to the Government of India.
Sources further said the supplies from the company depend on the orders being placed by the government.
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(With PTI inputs)
