India dispatches COVID-19 vaccine to Oman

Muscat: India will give 100,000 doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Oman, the Ministry of External Affairs of India (MEA) has said.

The consignments of Indian made Covid vaccines being airlifted for Oman is part of an initiative to give medicines to its neighbours, and friendly countries, said Anurag Srivastava, official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, India.

“In the coming days, we plan to gift 100,000 doses to Oman, 500,000 doses to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), 200,000 to Nicaragua, and 200,000 to the Pacific Island states,” Anurag Srivastava, spokesperson for the India MEA had said, addressing a weekly briefing on Thursday. “From 20 January onwards, we have gifted over 5.5 million doses of coronavirus vaccines to our neighbouring countries and in the extended neighbourhood,” he added.

These include “150,000 to Bhutan, 100,000 to the Maldives, one million to Nepal, two million to Bangladesh, 1.5 million to Myanmar, 50,000 to Seychelles, and 500,000 to Sri Lanka.”
Vaccines were supplied to these countries based on their requests, he added.

India also plans to commercially export vaccines to other countries, such as Saudi Arabia, Canada and Mongolia.

“On a commercial level, exports to Bangladesh, Brazil and Morocco have taken place,” added Srivastava. “We plan on supplying 10 million vaccine doses to Africa, and one million to United Nations health workers, under the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI).”
Last week, Oman’s Minister of Health had confirmed that Oman would be receiving 100,000 doses of the Oxford vaccine.

“The Sultanate will not import any medicine without ensuring that the medicine is safe, and the country is in compliance with health standards and protocols,” said Dr Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Saidi, addressing the Majlis Al Shura.