Nigeria receives consignment of 'Made In India' Covid-19 vaccines under 'Vaccine Maitri'

In an effort to boost its vaccine diplomacy, India has sent domestically produced Covid-19 vaccines to Nigeria. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter on Tuesday and confirmed that Nigeria has received the jabs developed by the Serum Institute of India (SII) at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja for its vaccination drive. Jaishankar wrote on Twitter, "Global South policy at work. Nigeria receives Made in India vaccines, #Vaccine Maitri." India also sent a consignment of 'Made In India' vaccines to the capital of Angola on Tuesday.

India sends domestically produced Covid-19 vaccines to Nigeria

According to Johns Hopkins University, Nigeria has recorded near 1,56,017 cases so far. However, around 1,915 people have lost their life due to deadly coronavirus. On Monday, the country has reported 360 new Covid-19 cases and eight deaths due to the virus. As per the reports, the country's National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control will analyze a sample of vaccines on Wednesday and Thursday.

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India's ‘Vaccine Maitri’ initiative 

Meanwhile, India has won global praise for its ‘Vaccine Maitri’ programme which aims to aid poor countries amidst the global pandemic. So far, India has exported the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech's indigenous vaccine to more than 15 countries while another 25 countries are queued at different levels to receive supplies. These include Brazil, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Bhutan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. Both the vaccines are already in circulation in India with senior citizens receiving the jabs in the second phase of the immunization drive.

Last week, India sent stocks of Covashield vaccines to Ghana. All the vaccines received by Ghana were free of cost as the country received them under WHO’s COVAX programme. Also, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's donation of 2,00,000 Covishield vaccines to Guatemala on February 26 marked the extension of India's 'Vaccine Maitri Initiative' to the next level.

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