India Supplied 23.9 Crore Covid-19 Vaccine Doses To 101 Countries, UN Entities: Government

India has supplied 23.9 crore doses of coronavirus vaccine to 101 countries and UN entities in the form of grants, commercial export, or through COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) as of July 15, 2022, the Lok Sabha was informed on Friday.

Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar also said as of July 19, 2022, a total of 200.34 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered to beneficiaries above 12 years of age in the country.

In a written reply to a question, she said the Covid-19 vaccination below 12 years of age has not begun under the National Covid Vaccination Programme.

Currently, five Covid-19 vaccines --Covishield, Covovax, Covaxin, Sputnik V vaccine, and Corbevax -- are being used under the vaccination program, the minister told the House.

She added that adequate doses have been made available to all states and union territories to vaccinate all eligible beneficiaries.

On whether there is any possibility of the resurgence of the coronavirus pandemic in the near future and what measures have been taken to prevent any future outbreak, Pawar said given the emergence of variants of COVID-19 with variable transmissibility and other public health implications, the Union Ministry of Health, along with various expert committees, is following Covid-19 trajectory globally and in the country.

In addition, a network of Indian SARSCoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories is taking whole genome sequencing of samples for the detection of mutant variants of the virus, she said in her written reply.

The Health Ministry provides requisite support to states and UTs to enhance preparedness and response capacities against Covid-19, the minister said.

Funding support has been provided to them for strengthening the healthcare system to meet any exigency due to the resurgence of cases in the country through National Health Mission, State Disaster Response Funds (SDRF), Emergency COVID19 Response and preparedness packages, and PM-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, she said.

(Inputs from PTI)