Weeks after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had asserted that the 'Vaccine Maitri' initiative is not being run at the expense of the Indian citizens, the Ministry of External Affairs informed on Thursday that the supply of COVID-19 vaccines from India to abroad would continue, considering the domestic requirements. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "We have always said the supply of made-in-India vaccines abroad would continue taking into account our domestic requirements." "Let me reiterate that there is no ban on the export of vaccines. In fact, the website of our ministry is being regularly updated to reflect the supply of vaccines that are happening on a periodic basis," he added. Meanwhile, the Serum Institute of India has fully refunded South Africa for the 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which were not delivered to the country. A million doses from the institute, which had already been delivered, have been sold on to other countries in the African Union. However, with an average of 34,30,502 anti-coronavirus doses being given per day, India has topped globally in terms of the number of jabs administered daily, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. Cumulatively, 9,01,98,673 vaccine doses have been given so far through 13,77,304 sessions, according to a provisional report till 7 a.m on Thursday. These include 89,68,151 healthcare workers (HCWs) and 97,67,538 frontline workers (FLWs) who have taken the first dose and 54,18,084 HCWs and 44,11,609 FLWs who have taken the second dose. "In its collective and collaborative fight against the global pandemic, India has crossed a landmark milestone under the world's largest vaccination drive, which was launched on January 16 this year," the ministry said. Indian Army chief Gen MM Naravane on Thursday handed over 1,00,000 Covid-19 vaccines to his Bangladeshi counterpart Gen Aziz Ahmed who thanked India for its commendable cooperation in helping his country tackle the coronavirus pandemic. Gen Aziz expressed gratitude for India's commendable cooperation in helping Dhaka tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, as per reports. COVID-19 Cases In India India reported 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases, 61,899 discharges, and 780 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry. Total cases: 1,30,60,542 Total recoveries: 1,19,13,292 Active cases: 9,79,608 Death toll: 1,67,642 Total vaccination: 9,43,34,262 Image : PTI/Unsplash
