India commences supply of COVID-19 vaccines to Africa under COVAX facility

India on Tuesday commenced the supply of 'Made in India' COVID-19 vaccines to Africa under the COVAX facility.

"Fulfilling our commitment to help the world with COVID-19 vaccines, supplies of Made in India vaccine commence today for Africa under COVAX facility," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava tweeted.

COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access, abbreviated as COVAX, is a global initiative aimed at equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines led by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, the World Health Orgsation (WHO), the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and others.

Last month, the MEA announced that India plans to supply 1 crore or 10 million vaccine doses to Africa and 10 lakh to United Nations health workers under GAVI's COVAX facility.

WHO South-East Asia tweeted photos of the first shipment being loaded onto a truck at Serum's manufacturing facility in Pune.

"The first batch of COVID-19 vaccines for #COVAX rolled out from @SerumInstIndia, in Pune, on Tuesday morning," WHO South East Asia tweeted.

India has supplied a total of 229.7 lakh doses of coronavirus vaccine to the global community as of last week, according to the MEA.

( With inputs from ANI )