Brazil seeks two million doses of Covishield vaccine from India on a priority basis

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has requested India for 2 million doses of Covishield vaccine produced indigenously by the Serum Institute of India, Pune. Mr Bolsonaro has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expedite the shipment of Covishield vaccine to Brazil without affecting India's vaccination program.

Mr Bolsonaro's letter, released by his press office, comes amid growing pressure to speed up Brazil's vaccine rollout and end the world's second-deadliest coronavirus outbreak. Brazilian National Immunization Program has finalized the Covishield and Covaxin for emergency use in the country.

Earlier, the federally funded Fiocruz biomedical centre had requested an emergency use authorization for Covishield vaccine coming from India

On the other hand, the vaccination drive for COVID-19 will kick off in India on January 16, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has chaired a high-level meeting to review the status of COVID-19 in the country along with the preparedness for COVID vaccination.

The meeting was attended by the Cabinet Secretary, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary and other senior officials. The Prime Minister took a detailed and comprehensive review of the status of COVID management covering various issues.

Emergency Use Authorisation or Accelerated Approval has been granted by the National Regulator for two vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - which have established safety and immunogenicity.

COVID-19 vaccine priority will be given to the healthcare workers and frontline workers who are estimated to be around 3 Crores, followed by those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 Crores.