Indian vaccines land in Somalia

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<strong>India airlifted Covid-19 vaccines to Somalia on Saturday as a part of its Vaccine Maitri initiative to assist countries in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic. The information about the consignment was shared by the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar through his Twitter account. He tweeted, "Reaching across the Indian Ocean. Made-in-India vaccines arriving in Somalia."</strong></p>
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Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India-made coronavirus vaccines are being provided to friendly countries. Twenty-five countries have already received Made-in India vaccines and another 49 nations are in the queue.</p>
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There is a growing demand for Indian vaccines as the country has emerged as the “pharmacy of the world” amid the huge shortage that has developed for the shots worldwide.</p>
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Besides, Indian vaccines are much cheaper and easier to handle as they can be stored at ordinary refrigeration temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius making them affordable for developing countries. The western-made Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, on the other hand, are very expensive and have to be stored at -80 degrees Celsius and require expensive cold-chain infrastructure that does not exist in most countries.</p>
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