India To Supply 1.1 Billion Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines To UNICEF

New York: India’s Serum Institute will be supplying 1.1 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Novavax to around 100 countries for approximately USD 3 per dose for the low and lower-middle-income countries, said Henrietta Fore, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) chief, on Wednesday.

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Today, we are pleased to announce the conclusion of a long-term supply agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the COVID-19 vaccines, to access two vaccine products through technology transfer from AstraZeneca and Novavax, Sputnik quoted Fore as saying at a COVAX press briefing.

She further said,

UNICEF, along with our procurement partners including PAHO, will have access to up to 1.1 billion doses of vaccines for around 100 countries for approximately USD 3 a dose for the low- and lower-middle income countries.

India on January 16 began its mammoth coronavirus vaccine rollout by administering 207,229 shots on the first day with the help of hundreds of thousands of health workers who were trained and assisted by the UN agencies. The Central government has introduced an application named CoWIN (Covid Vaccine Intelligence Work) to monitor the entire vaccination process.

Two vaccines–Covaxin and Covishield– have received Emergency Use Authorisation (EAU) after going through established safety and immunogenicity in a well-prescribed regulatory process and these will be administered during the vaccination drive. Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs had stated that India has gifted over 55 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine to neighbouring countries.

Addressing a weekly briefing, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Anurag Srivastava on Thursday said India plans to gift vaccines doses to Oman, CARICOM countries, Nicaragua, Pacific Island states. He further said that New Delhi plans to supply 1 crore or 10 million vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to United Nations health workers under GAVI’s (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation) COVAX facility.

Also Read: Experts Appeal Taking COVID-19 Vaccine Shot To Break The Chain Of Transmission And Avoid Another Peak

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.