Centre issues Letter of Comfort to Bharat Biotech for 45 lakh doses of Covaxin

Hyderabad, January 19

Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, sources have said on Tuesday.

Out of the 45 lakh doses, the city-based vaccine maker would be supplying over eight lakh to some of the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Myanmar and the Philippines free of cost as goodwill gesture, sources added.

“The company was given a fresh letter of comfort recently for supplying another 45 lakh doses of Covaxin. The doses will be dispatched as when the Ministry places orders with the company,” sources told PTI.

After having received the government purchase order for 55lakh doses, Bharat Biotech shipped the first batch of vaccines (each vial containing 20 doses) to Gannavaram (Vijayawada), Guwahati, Patna, Delhi, Kurukshetra, Bangalore, Pune, Bhubaneswar, Jaipur, Chennai and Lucknow, it said.

Bharat Biotech said it has also donated 16.5 lakh doses to the Government of India.

Sources further said the supplies from the company depend on the orders being placed by the government. PTI