UN General Assembly prez Abdulla Shahid reveals he received 2 doses of Covishield manufactured in India
The Covishield vaccine, created by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca, is produced in India by the Serum Institute of India in Pune.
FollowAbdulla Shahid, President of the United Nations General Assembly's 76th session, stated he had gotten two doses of the Covishield vaccine made in India, as did a "significant part" of other countries across the world. The Covishield vaccine, created by the British-Swedish pharmaceutical corporation AstraZeneca, is produced in India by the Serum Institute of India in Pune.
"I obtained Covishield from India, and I have two doses. I'm not sure how many nations would say Covishield is acceptable or not, but a big percentage of the countries have Covishield," Shahid remarked during his maiden news conference here on October 1. He was replying to a query on whether any COVID vaccine should be recognised and considered, rather than those validated by the World Health Organization or any other organisation.
"And I've made it. But let someone else, a medical professional, make the call, not me," he joked. Through grants, commercial exports, and the COVAX facility, India has exported over 66 million vaccine doses to almost 100 nations. In January, Shahid's native country, the Maldives, was among the first to get the India-made vaccinations when 100,000 doses of Covishield were delivered to Male. Through grants, commercial shipments, and the COVAX facility, the Maldives has received a total of 312,000 doses of Made-in-India Covid vaccines.
Also Read | India hits back at UK; travel norms to be tightened for British nationals arriving in India
The United Kingdom initially refused to recognise Covishield, which the Serum Institute makes of India. However, in response to India's significant criticism of the decision, the United Kingdom changed its new criteria on September 22 to include the vaccination. The change, however, did not give any exemption from quarantine requirements for Indian travellers who had received two doses of Covishield. Later, British authorities stated that the United Kingdom had concerns about India's vaccine approval procedure, not the Covishield vaccine. Because the United Kingdom is having difficulties with India's Covid-19 vaccination certificate, fully vaccinated Indians will be subjected to a 10-day quarantine beginning on October 4.
Official sources in New Delhi claimed on October 1 that India has decided to put reciprocal limits on all British people entering in the country since the thorny issue of the UK not acknowledging Indian vaccination certificates could not be resolved despite a series of technical-level meetings.
Also Read | Serum to supply around 22 crore doses of Covishield vaccine to Centre in October
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