India COVID-19 vaccines: Export to Sri Lanka to begin soon after regulators clear the drug

India will start exporting COVID-19 vaccines from Wednesday, paving the way for many mid- and lower-income countries to get supplies of the easy-to-store Oxford/AstraZeneca drug, of which it said it plans to ship millions of doses within days, Reuters reported.

Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine producer, told Reuters last week it soon expected emergency use authorization from the World Health Organization (WHO) for that vaccine, which SII has been licensed to make.

The Foreign Ministry said shipments would start on Wednesday following requests from “neighboring and key partner countries.”

Officials said the first doses would go to Bhutan and Maldives, Reuters reported.

Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and the Seychelles will also get supplies in this week’s first phase, the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry said Astra-Oxford vaccine supplies to Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Mauritius would begin soon after those countries’ regulators cleared the drug.

According to Reuters, Bangladesh Foreign Ministry said it expected to receive a gift of 2 million doses on Thursday.

The country has ordered a further 30 million doses, officials said.

India, which has the world’s second highest COVID caseload, has said it needs to balance its domestic requirements with international demands.

It began giving shots of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, as well as another developed by Bharat Biotech, to domestic health workers on Saturday.

The country plans to start exporting Bharat Biotech’s vaccine at a later stage.