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It is learnt that two million doses each will be sent as commercial supplies to Brazil and Morocco, while a consignment of 1.5 million doses of Covishield will be delivered to Myanmar, 50,000 doses to Seychelles and another shipment of 1,00,000 doses is slated to arrive in Mauritius on Friday as part of India’s grant assistance.

The Indian High Commission in Dhaka tweeted that a “gift of 2 million” made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine was handed over to Bangladesh Foreign Minister AKA Momen and Health Minister Zahid Maleque by Indian envoy Vikram Doraiswami. The Indian embassy in Kathmandu said a total of one million doses of vaccines was handed over to Nepal in reflection of India’s abiding friendship and commitment towards people of the country.

On Wednesday, India sent 1,50,000 doses of Covishield vaccines to Bhutan and 1,00,000 doses to the Maldives. In a major announcement, India on Tuesday said it will send COVID-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles from Wednesday. Supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius will commence after confirmation of necessary regulatory clearances, it said.

India is one of the world’s biggest drugmakers and an increasing number of countries have already being approaching 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. Sources said training in administering COVID-19 vaccines was provided to healthcare professionals of Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Bahrain, Brazil, Mauritius, Morocco, Oman, Seychelles and Sri Lanka on Tuesday and Wednesday.

They said national and provincial-level officials, people handling cold chains and partners from WHO and UNICEF were part of the training. “The key topics covered were COVID-19 disease and vaccines, conducting COVID-19 vaccination, logistics and cold chain management, safe injection practices and waste management,” said a source.