India unlikely to expand Covid vaccine exports in immediate future; 53,476 new cases

India is unlikely to expand the export of Coronavirus vaccines for the next few months as the focus shifts to domestic demand in view of a spike in Coronavirus infections, sources said to news agency PTI on Wednesday. 

As of now, India has sent over 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to around 80 countries. Earlier this month, the Delhi High Court had questioned the Centre and had said that it needs to focus within the country first and then export the vaccines outside. This came after the court observed that the government has started exporting Covid-19 vaccines even to “not-so-friendly countries”. The observation was made by the division bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli. 

Sources told PTI that India will fulfill the existing commitments made to various countries but will not expand the supplies for the next few months to meet the domestic demand.

India started supplying the vaccine doses to foreign countries on January 20. The first countries to receive such vaccines were from the neighbourhood. The government has already announced that people who are 45 and older can be vaccinated from April 1.

COVID cases continue to rise; over 53k new cases reported in 24 hours

India reported 53,476 new COVID-19 cases, 26,490 recoveries, and 251 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry.

Total cases: 1,17,87,534
Total recoveries: 1,12,31,650     
Active cases: 3,95,192     
Death toll: 1,60,692      
Total vaccinations: 5,31,45,709

(With PTI Inputs)

(Image: PTI/unsplash)