India commits to ship Covishield vaccines to Canada within a month
Canada/IBNS: Adar Poonawalla, the chief executive of Serum Institute of India (SII), confirmed on Monday that Covishield vaccines would be shipped to Canada within a month.
"As we await regulatory approvals from Canada, I assure you, @SerumInstIndia will fly out #COVISHIELD to Canada in less than a month; I'm on it!" Poonawalla said in a tweet, using the brand name under which Serum produces the shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca Plc.
Earlier, Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also been assured by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their discussion on Monday, that India would do its best to supply COVID-19 vaccines sought by Canada.
"Minister Anand continues to make every effort to ensure that vaccines are delivered to Canada as early as possible from a diverse range of suppliers. We will announce details of any agreement once it is finalized," said James Fitz-Morris in an email.
Approval of two separate applications for a vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University researchers, including a joint pitch from SII, a private enterprise in Pune in western India, is being reviewed by Health Canada.
Canada has a deal with AstraZeneca for 20 million doses.
(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)
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