New Delhi (TIP): Amid concerns over the omicron variant of the novel coronavirus across the world, India will soon supply Covid-19 vaccines to African countries, as per top government sources. As countries tighten travel protocols once again, the central government is looking to export a significant portion of Covid-19 vaccines to Africa. The government is already in talks with indigenous vaccine manufacturers regarding vaccine supplies to Africa, sources said. Supplies have already been cleared for countries such as Botswana, Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Guinea and Lesotho. The ministry of external affairs had tweeted on Tuesday, “India stands ready to support the countries affected in Africa in dealing with the Omnicron Variant, including by supplies of Made-in-India vaccines. Supplies can be undertaken through COVAX or bilaterally.” This came soon after Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to supply another 1 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines to African countries. The Centre recently approved the export of Covid-19 vaccine in view of sufficient stock available with the states.

South Africa, where the new strain B.1.1.529 or omicron was first detected, is only 25 per cent vaccinated against Covid-19. Only 7 per cent of Africa is inoculated, and there are a few countries in the continent where not even 5 per cent of the population has received a Covid-19 vaccine.

Bharat Biotech will export 108 lakh doses of Covaxin commercially, as per sources. The vaccine will be exported to eight countries — Paraguay, Botswana, Vietnam, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Cameroon and United Arab Emirates. Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), too, was allowed to export 5 million doses of Covishield to the WHO-led vaccine initiative Covax, including to African countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Guinea and Lesotho. Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech is not a part of the Covax initiative yet. Sources said the quantity of Covid-19 vaccines to be exported will be decided by the Centre, based on domestic availability every month. While Bharat Biotech produced 55 million doses of Covaxin in October, it hopes to make 80 million doses in December. Serum institute has a capacity to produce over 200 million doses of Covishield per month.

Covaxin, the inactivated whole-virion vaccine that is the first indigenous Covid vaccine, was recently granted emergency use listing (EUL) by WHO on November 3. Serum institute’s Covishield was granted approval much earlier in January, paving the way for a global rollout through Covax.