India says there is no ban on coronavirus vaccine exports

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The ministry of external affairs on Friday clarified that India has not imposed any export ban on Covid-19 vaccines and the government has supplied shots to more than 80 countries worldwide.</p>
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"No country has shared with the world the number of vaccines that India has while vaccinating its own population. Till now, we have supplied vaccines to more than 80 countries across in the world and we have already stated that our external supplies would be done keeping in mind our domestic requirements," Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for MEA said.</p>
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"A total of 64.4 million doses of vaccine have been supplied to various countries and 18.2 million through Covax so far," the MEA spokesperson said.</p>
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There were some reports in the media that India has temporarily put on hold all major exports of the AstraZeneca vaccine, made by the Serum Institute of India, to meet domestic demand as coronavirus infections are surging in the country.</p>
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There have been concerns that other developing nations depending upon Serum Institute's contract with the vaccine alliances for their doses will be impacted.</p>
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The Serum Institute was due to deliver 90 million vaccine doses to Covax over March and Apri. However, it was not immediately clear how many would be diverted for domestic use.</p>
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Global vaccine alliance Gavi, which runs the Covax programme said,  "Deliveries will be delayed in March and April as the government of India battles a new wave of Covid-19 infections."</p>
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The MEA spokesperson said, “Regarding the concerns of other countries, India's position has been suitably conveyed through its official channels.” </p>