The total number of vaccine doses administered so far has reached 36.48 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive

The center on Thursday reiterated that it is “actively pursuing” the enhancement of Covid-19 vaccine availability through imports and said that its current focus is on proposing domestic production towards its vaccination programme.

“Let me reiterate that our current focus continues to be on purposing domestic production towards India’s domestic vaccination programme,” Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said during a weekly media briefing.

“We are also actively pursuing the enhancement of vaccine availability through imports. This has helped increase the pace of vaccination in recent weeks,” Bagchi added.

It is hoped that individual countries would increasingly recognize made-in-India vaccines, he said.

Currently, three COVID-19 vaccines — Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, Covishield by Serum Institute of India (SII) and Russia’s Sputnik V — are being used for inoculation in India.

The total number of vaccine doses administered so far has reached 36.48 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.

As regarding approval for Covaxin by the WHO, Bagchi said the government is continuing to monitor the progress and added, “I would refer you to Bharat Biotech for the exact status of where it stands.”

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the CoWIN Global Conclave so that India’s indigenous e-portal for registration for vaccination can be recognized globally. Over 142 countries participated in the event and more than 50 of them are highly keen in using the platform.

Asked how many countries have shown interest in India’s technology platform for vaccination CoWin, Bagchi pointed out that a very important event, the CoWIN Global Conclave, was convened earlier this week and was addressed by the Prime Minister and other dignitaries.

“This was an opportunity to offer to the world our indigenously developed digital platform CoWin which is an open source and can be shared with all. More than 400 participants from over 140 partner countries participated,” the MEA spokesperson said, adding that discussions will continue with partner countries.