Thank you India and PM Narendra Modi, WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said
The World Health Organisation has thanked India for "continued support" in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. India has been sending vaccines to countries in the South Asian neighbourhood and to others like Brazil and Morocco. South Africa will also get the vaccine soon.
"Thank you #India and Prime Minister @narendramodi for your continued support to the global #COVID19 response. Only if we #ACTogether, including sharing of knowledge, can we stop this virus and save lives and livelihoods," WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted.
The WHO chief's tweet comes hours after a similar tweet by Brazilian President Jair M Bolsonaro, who thanked India for the vaccines. "Namaskar, Prime Minister @narendramodi Brazil feels honoured to have a great partner to overcome a global obstacle by joining efforts. Thank you for assisting us with the vaccines exports from India to Brazil. Dhanyavaad!" Mr Bolsonaro tweeted.
India dispatched two million doses of Covishield vaccines to Brazil on Friday. Covishield has been developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives have got over 3.2 million doses in total from India. Donations to Mauritius, Myanmar and Seychelles will follow and Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are next on the list.
"Trust the Pharmacy of the World. Made in India vaccines arrive in Brazil," Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeted along with photos of the vaccines being unloaded from a plane at an airport in Brazil.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said India's vaccine production and delivery capacity would be used for the benefit of all humanity in fighting the pandemic.
India's COVID-19 vaccination drive, which began a week ago on January 16, has covered nearly 14 lakh people already, the government said. The mission of administering the two-dose jab accelerated to over three lakh people per day yesterday, according to Health Ministry data.