India has delivered to Tajikistan 192,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine, 'Covishield' manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), according to the Indian Embassy in Dushanbe.
The vaccines arrived in the night of March 8 and were received by Deputy Prime Minister Matlubajon Sattoriyon, Minister of Health and Social Protection Jamoliddin Abdullozoda, Deputy Minister of Health and Deputy Foreign Minister of Tajikistan Muzaffar Husseinzoda.
Ambassador of India to Tajikistan Viraj Singh handed over the vaccines to Tajik officials in the presence of representatives of World Health Organization, UNICEF and European Union.
The vaccines arrived as part of India's commitment made to the world to use India's vaccine production and delivery capacity to help all of the human fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Till date under its Vaccine Maitri’ initiative more than 45.6 million doses of these vaccines have been sent across the globe by India to more than 45 countries. India's initiative to supply these vaccines to all countries stems from its philosophy of 'Sarve Santu Niramya' (May all be free from disease).
On January 16, India started the world's largest Covid-19 vaccination drive to vaccinate its citizens. By July 2021 India plans to have 300 million people vaccinated. Almost 21 million shots have already been administered in India.
SII, which has produced these vaccines, is the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, both by number of doses and by what it sells worldwide. SII is mass producing the AstraZeneca vaccine, developed with Oxford University, for dozens of poor and middle-income countries and has pledged to manufacture million doses of vaccine.
