India becomes first country to gift Covid-19 vaccines to Afghanistan
The vaccines come as a booster to Afghanistan’s fight against the Covid 19 pandemic
By IAR Desk
Continuing with its Covid vaccine diplomacy – Vaccine Maitri-, India became the first country to provide Afghanistan with 500,000 free doses of Covishield, a vaccine that protects from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection, to curb the spread of the virus in the war-torn country.
The vaccines were shipped on Sunday, February 7th.
“The vaccines will enable us to be well prepared to move towards normalcy. Our Indian counterparts have assured us of more vaccines in the future. This is a great gesture of humanity, and we are deeply grateful,” Tahir Qadri, the Afghan Charge d’Affaires in India said.
Produced by the Serum Institute of India, Pune, Kabul will start rolling out the Covishield jab — the local name for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK — from next week, after receiving certification from the World Health Organisation.
“I welcome the delivery of 5,00,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to AFG by India. I express my gratitude to the Gov. & people of India for their generous & much needed support. India always has stood by the people of Afghanistan, & offered their help,” Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation said in a tweet.
Also read: India’s vaccine production capacity is best asset world has today, says UN chief
According to Masooma Jafari, another spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Health, front-line healthcare workers would be prioritized for the vaccination drive, followed by school teachers, prisoners, security forces, and the elderly.
As of Saturday, Afghanistan’s national caseload stood at 55,335, with 2,410 deaths reported since the start of the pandemic last year.
Kabul has been heavily reliant on foreign aid in the fight against the pandemic. There were several complaints of resources being embezzled during a distribution program last year and further concerns about the mismanagement of funds in the country grappling with poverty, poor health infrastructure and daily violence.
The Chinese have also “offered” to supply Covid 19 vaccines to Afghanistan but discussions are still on-going.
Also read: India reiterates support to Afghanistan
While the supply of vaccines is the latest gesture of goodwill and friendship by India to Afghanistan, India has also been reaching out to her other neighbours in the fight against the pandemic.
Similarly, Nepal, India’s other neighbour has also received one million doses of the vaccine from India as a gift, a week after India rolled out its pan-nation vaccination drive in the world’s largest inoculation exercise, on January 16. China, Nepal’s other neighbour, to which the Himalayan country has increasingly getting close to is still in “talks” over vaccine supplies.
Similarly, other neighbours like Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have been recipients of India’s vaccine largesse.
While India has been supplying vaccines to countries across the globe – Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Mauritius, and many others, the very first shipments outside the country have been to neighbours, keeping in line with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Neighbourhood First” policy.
Also read: UN chief Antonio Guterres salutes India for helping others in fight against COVID-19
