0.7 C
London
Friday, January 10, 2025
HomeIndiaAfter South Asia, India sends coronavirus vaccines to Morocco in Africa

After South Asia, India sends coronavirus vaccines to Morocco in Africa

Related stories

J&K police release list of seized assets used for terrorism

Jammu, Feb 16 : The police in Jammu and...

Israel says 4 mln citizens vaccinated against Covid-19

Jerusalem, Feb 17 : Israeli officials announced that some...

Hungary to receive first shipment of Chinese vaccines

Beijing, Feb 17 : A Hungarian cargo plane loaded...

By Rahul Kumar New Delhi, Jan 23 : India has flown the first lot of coronavirus vaccines to Africa, after having shipped these to friendly South Asian neighbours when a Royal Air Maroc plane left India for Moroccan capital Rabat on Friday evening.
The Indian embassy in Rabat tweeted: “In a manifestation of excellent relationship between India and Morocco, the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and produced by Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer was shipped from India for Morocco today.” The embassy later replied to its own tweet, saying: “AffordableVaccine4All.” Earlier this week, Minister for External Affairs, S Jaishankar had met the ambassadors of African countries. He tweeted: “Our conversation covered COVID recovery, vaccines, air travel, and digital experiences. Also spoke about India’s current priorities & challenges. Assured them of India’s interest in an early IAFS (India-Africa Forum Summit) Summit.” Jaishankar hinted that his talks with the African envoys did touch vaccines and path to recovery. African countries including multilateral agencies are worried over vaccine hoarding by the developed world. Canada has hoarded enough vaccines to give five jabs per person. Other Western countries too have reserved or pre-booked more vaccines with manufacturers than they require. Stockpiling of vaccines has led to concern that poorer nations may not be able to fend for their citizens – ironically, prolonging the existence of the virus, thereby keeping everyone vulnerable to the infection.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus hit out over “vaccine inequity,” saying this could amount to a “catastrophic moral failure” on a global scale. The US, Canada, the UK and most European countries are into their second month of mass vaccination even as the lower-income countries fret about protecting their people with no vaccine supply on the horizon.
A number of statements by high ranking Indian officials indicate that the country plans to support African countries in their battle against an unpredictable pandemic.

Subscribe

- Never miss a story with notifications

- Gain full access to our premium content

- Browse free from up to 5 devices at once

Latest stories