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Statement by H.E. Mr. Prashant Agrawal, High Commissioner of India to Namibia, at the Handover Ceremony of Covid-19 Vaccines committed by India to Namibia, at Hosea Kutako International Airport, March 20, 2021:

 

The arrival of 30,000 Covishield (Oxford AstraZenaca) vaccine doses from India today marks an important milestone in the historically close and friendly ties between India and Namibia. Our two nations have always stood together in difficult times, and we are hopeful that these vaccine doses would boost our common fight against this pandemic – the most serious challenge of our times.

 

2. These Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca) doses have been produced by Serum Institute of India, which is the largest producer of vaccines in the world, making upto 1.5 billion doses every year. It is estimated that 2 out of 3 children in the world have received Serum’s vaccine shots, which will include your children and mine too!

 

3. These Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca) vaccines have already received WHO’s approval in the form of Emergency Use Listing on 15th February 2021 itself.

 

4. As distinguished guests may be aware, India, the pharmacy of the world, is also the global hub for vaccine manufacturing. 60% of all vaccines in the world, nearly 1.5 billion doses, are supplied by India to more than 150 countries every year. WHO sources 70% of its vaccines from India.

 

5. Our Prime Minister has clearly committed that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity would be utilised for the global good. We will share what we have, in the spirit of “Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam” which means that “the world is one family”.

 

6. In keeping with that spirit, and given the special place that Namibians have in the heart of Indians, on 8th February 2021 we had offered the Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca) vaccines to Namibia. We had also promised to the esteemed Health Ministry here that the vaccines would reach here within 7 to 10 days of receiving your authorizations. When the High Commission received these authorizations on 12th March 2021, we dispatched these vaccines on the sixth day, on 18th March itself. I am happy to note that we have therefore fulfilled our promise today. May I thank Hon. Deputy Prime Minister for her support and facilitation.

 

7. In parallel, India has continued to provide Covid19 vaccines across the world - 73 countries so far including 25 partner countries in Africa. Altogether nearly 60 million doses have been provided, as gift, or on commercial basis, or under the Covax facility.

 

8. I may add that even for Covax, Serum Institute of India has committed nearly 200 million doses to Covax, and I am happy to note that almost all vaccines to Africa so far under Covax have been supplied from Serum Institute of India, though supply schedules and logistics are coordinated directly between Covax and recipient countries.

 

9. May I also mention that we have supplied these doses while undertaking our own Covid vaccination programme – one of the largest in the world. In India, over 40 million people have already received covid vaccination, and we have vaccinated upto 3 million people per day. We are using both ‘Covishield’ and India's own ‘Covaxin’, made by Bharat Biotech, which has also been supplied across the world to many countries. A number of other home-developed Covid19 vaccines are under trial in India. We wish you all success in rollout of vaccines that arrived today and also look forward to sharing experiences and lessons learned of our Covid19 vaccination programmes.

 

10. Let me conclude by reiterating our commitment to further deepen our cooperation in the health sector. May I also convey to you all our heart-felt greetings for the Independence Day tomorrow.

 

Thank You

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