India will serve COVID-19 vaccine needs of Africa: PM Narendra Modi to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa

New Delhi: Even as India's COVID-19 vaccine supplies reached South Africa, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday assured South African President Cyril Ramaphosa that India has the capacity to fulfil the needs of the African continent. 

Both leaders spoke to each other in the evening with the key focus being on the COVID-19 pandemic and cooperation on the coronavirus vaccines. The PMO readout said that the two leaders discussed the "continuing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic", and in this context, the "vaccination campaigns being undertaken in their respective countries".

PM Modi reiterated to the South African President that "India's considerable productive capacity for pharmaceuticals and vaccines would continue to serve the needs of all countries, including those in Africa." Other than South Africa, India's COVID-19 vaccine supplies have reached Morocco and Egypt in the continent.

New Delhi will also be giving one crore (10 million) doses of India-made COVID-19 vaccines to Africa under GAVI's covax facility. During the Modi-Cyril talks, both leaders also discussed possibilities of collaboration between the two countries on "various international fora, to facilitate access and affordability of vaccines and medicines."

This comes even as 2020 saw India and South Africa jointly proposing a proposal that calls for suspension of intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccine patent. The proposal has got many backers from developing countries, but the EU, US remain the main opposer of it. 

India, which is the largest producer of vaccines in the world has so far sent COVID-19 vaccines to 16 countries. These are Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Brazil, Morocco, Bahrain, Oman, Egypt, Algeria, Kuwait and South Africa.

56 lakh doses of India made vaccines have been gifted, while over100 lakh doses of vaccines have been sent commercially. In coming weeks, Indian vaccines are scheduled to reach CARICOM countries (the Caribbean), Pacific Island States, Nicaragua, Afghanistan, Mongolia etc.