India will focus on meeting domestic demand for coronavirus vaccines due to a spike in COVID-19 infections in several states and will not increase vaccine exports in the coming months, said Wednesday people close to development.
They said, however, that all trade contracts and export commitments would be honored and that India would continue to help countries around the world deal with the pandemic.
So far, India has provided 60.4 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to around 80 countries.
Total supplies include vaccine doses sent as a grant, under a commercial contract and through COVAX, which is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
People said that India will honor existing commitments made to various countries and that exports will depend on domestic demand. “There will be no expansion of exports over the next few months. The situation will be reviewed after about 2-3 months, as we focus on accelerating vaccine production, ”said one of the people named above.
India began providing vaccine doses to foreign countries on January 20. The first countries to receive such vaccines were from the neighborhood.
The government has already announced that people 45 and over can be vaccinated from April 1.
It is ramping up the nationwide inoculation campaign as COVID-19 cases have increased in many states.
India recorded 47,262 fresh coronavirus cases in one day, the largest single-day increase so far this year, bringing the national COVID-19 total to 1.17,34,058, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday. Union health.
He also said a new “double mutant” variant COVID-19 has been detected in Delhi, Maharashtra and other places.
Maharashtra reported 31,855 new cases of the coronavirus on Wednesday, its highest one-day jump since the pandemic began last year, a health official in Mumbai said. Delhi has reported 1,254 cases, the highest daily increase in more than three months, according to the state’s health department.