New Delhi: Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin. Out of this, it will supply over eight lakh doses to countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost.
The company will dispatch 20 lakh doses of the earlier order in a couple of days, from Hyderabad. “The company was given a fresh letter of comfort recently for supplying another 45 lakh doses of Covaxin. The doses will be dispatched as when the Ministry places orders with the company,” India Today reported quoting PTI.
Bharat Biotech has also donated 16.5 Lakh doses to the union government.
PTI quoted sources as saying that supplies from the company depend on the orders being placed by the government.
“This is not like a regular tender where there are timelines to supply goods. The order will be dispatched in bits and pieces. It is not possible to dispatch all the doses in a single shot due to various reasons. The dispatches depend on the ministry’s call,” they are reported to have said.
Every fortnight, the Centre convenes a meeting through video conferencing with vaccine manufacturers and other stakeholders to ensure the proper supply-chain management is in place.
“The doses (over eight lakh) which the company promised to supply to various countries will be monitored through the Ministry of External Affairs,” they added.
