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* Exports to resume in October-December quarter- minister
* Sales to both COVAX and bilaterally with countries
* India's own vaccination surges as supplies jump
(Adds details)
By Neha Arora and Krishna N. Das
NEW DELHI, Sept 20 (Reuters) - India will resume exports of
COVID-19 vaccines from the next quarter, prioritising the global
vaccine-sharing platform COVAX and neighbouring countries first
as supplies rise, the health minister said on Monday.
India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines, stopped
exports of COVID shots in April to focus on inoculating its own
population as infections exploded.
The country's monthly vaccine output has since more than
doubled and is set to quadruple to over 300 million doses next
month, minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, adding that only excess
supplies would be exported.
"We will help other countries and also fulfil our
responsibility towards COVAX," he told reporters.
Reuters reported last week https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-considers-resuming-vaccine-exports-soon-focus-africa-says-source-2021-09-15
that India was considering restarting exports of COVID-19
vaccines soon. It donated or sold 66 million doses to nearly 100
countries before the export halt.
The announcement on resumption of exports come ahead of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington this week
where vaccines are likely to be discussed at a summit of the
leaders of the Quad countries - the United States, India, Japan
and Australia.
India wants to vaccinate all its 944 million adults by
December and has so far given at least one dose to 64% of them
and two doses to 22%.
India's inoculations have jumped since last month,
especially as the world's biggest vaccine maker, the Serum
Institute of India, has more than trebled its output of the
AstraZeneca shot to 200 million doses a month from April
levels.
Indian companies have set up the capacity to produce nearly
3 billion COVID vaccine doses a year.
(Reporting by Neha Arora and Krishna N. Das, editing by Louise
Heavens and Giles Elgood)
