India says it hadn't banned export of Covid-19 vaccine; warns of misinformation
India today said it has not banned the export of Covid-19 vaccines Oxford-AstraZeneca and Covaxin, both of which have been granted restricted emergency use approval by the country's drug regulator.
Responding to a question during a press briefing, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "The union government has not banned the export of any one of the Covid-19 vaccines and this should be absolutely clear."
Replying to another question, Bhushan said, "When I say union government, it means there are three ministries --- Ministry of Health, Ministry of Commerce, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade with the Ministry of Commerce and Directorate General of Foreign Trade -- which can initiate, in a hypothetical scenario, such an action.
"But none of them have taken any such action. Therefore, our request to our media friends would be that we should be on guard when such misinformation is spread," Bhushan said.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had on Sunday approved Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute, and indigenously- developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech, for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.
The Indian health secretary highlighted two important points from a joint statement issued by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech today and said, "The statement mentions two important elements. It says that vaccines are a global public health good. They also say that we communicate our joint pledge to provide global access for our Covid-19 vaccines.
"That means neither the Union government nor the vaccine manufacturers are talking of any ban on the export of vaccines," Bhushan said.
Meanwhile, the BBC reported quoting an unnamed Indian External Affairs Ministry official that India would begin exporting locally-made coronavirus vaccines within a fortnight of their launch.
"Within a fortnight of the rollout of the vaccines we will allow exports to some of our South Asian neighbours. Some of these exports will be paid by us as gifts, and the others will be supplied at roughly the same price the government will be buying the vaccines at," the official told BBC.
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