Zimbabwe Becomes First African Country To Authorise The Use Of Indian Covid-19 Vaccine 'Covaxin'

In a positive development, Zimbabwe has emerged as the first African country to authorise the use of the India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, which has been developed by Hyderabad based Bharat Biotech in close collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Pune based National Institute of Virology, reports Times of India.

"Zimbabwe has authorized use of COVAXIN, India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, becoming the first country in Africa to do so. Trying to get it to Zimbabwe at an early date," Indian embassy in Zimbabwe said in a tweet on Thursday (4 March).

On Thursday, India's ambassador to Zimbabwe Vijay Khanduja called on the African country's Vice President Constantino Chiwenga.

"VP Chiwenga conveyed the good news of authorization of COVAXIN India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, in Zimbabwe," the Indian embassy said.

The development comes just days after President Jair Bolsonaro led Brazilian administration had secured a supply of 20 million doses of Covaxin which is a two-dose whole virion inactivated virus vaccine.

Meanwhile, Ukraine and France are also said to be engaged in talks with the Hyderabad based vaccine maker to secure dosages of the Covid-19 for inoculating their respective populations.

It should also be noted that Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi had also received the first shot of Covaxin on1 March at New Delhi based All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in the presence of institution's director Dr Randeep Guleria.