Covishield vaccine from India reaches Brazil

The Covishield vaccine manufactured in India has reached Brazil after the country flew in a plane to fetch 2 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. The Covishield vaccine has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

As the vaccines reached Brazil early on Saturday, External Affairs Minister Jaishankar said, “Made in India vaccines arrive in Brazil.”

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro thanked PM Narendra Modi for the vaccines and said, “Namaskar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccine exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad.”

To this, PM Modi replied, “The honour is ours, President Jair M. Bolsonaro to be a trusted partner of Brazil in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic together. We will continue to strengthen our cooperation on healthcare.”

Bolsonaro referred to the Covid-19 vaccine from India as ‘sanjeevni booti’ from Ramayana.

The Indian ambassador to Brazil said, “Today is a historic day in India-Brazil relations. Brazil is the first country to get such a consignment. PM Modi said we’ll make vaccine available to all countries and we’ll continue to work towards that and I wish you good luck in your efforts.”

Two flights, each carrying 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine, departed from the Mumbai airport for Brazil and Morocco in the early hours of Friday.

India is one of the world’s biggest drugmakers, and an increasing number of countries have already approached it for procuring coronavirus vaccines.

Since Wednesday, India has begun sending Covid-19 vaccines under grant assistance to Bhutan, the Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles.