India cancels 50L COVISHIELD export to UK, doses to be used for vaccine drive phase 3

As India continues to battle against the unprecedented second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 50 lakh doses of Serum Institute of India's Covishield vaccines, which were meant to be exported to the UK, will now be used in India for vaccinating people above 18 years of age. "The stock of 50 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine is now available for inoculation of 18-44 age group people in 21 states and UTs," an official source said.

India to use 50 L COVID vaccine doses for self

The official sources have said, "Fifty lakh doses of Covishield' vaccine earmarked by the Serum Institute for export to the United Kingdom have now been made available for the inoculation of 18-44 age group in 21 states/UTs in India, amid a surge in COVID-19 cases."

The Centre decided to allocate these 50 lakh doses to Covishield to 21 states and Union Territories of the country after the Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at Pune-based SII, Prakash Kumar Singh, recently wrote to the Union Health Minister, seeking permission for the same. 

Earlier on March 23, The Serum Institute of India has sought permission from the Health Ministery to supply 50 lakh doses of Covishield to the UK, citing an agreement with AstraZeneca in this regard, while assuring India that its own anti-Coronavirus vaccination programme will not be disturbed due to this supply. 

UK's assistance to India amid COVID crisis

On April 27, India had received the first shipment of COVID-19 supplies from the UK. The Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had informed that 100 ventilators & 95 oxygen concentrators were delivered from the UK. At a time when several countries were announcing their help for India, UK had deployed the first set of equipment.

COVID-19 situation in India

As the world continues to grapple with the Coronavirus pandemic, India so far has recorded over 2,14,91,598 positive cases, out of which, 1,76,12,351 have recovered and 2,34,083 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 4,14,188 new cases, 3,31,507 fresh recoveries and 3,915 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the country is 36,45,164. 

(Image: PTI, Twitter: @Seruminstindia)