South Africa to return one million doses of COVISHIELD vaccines to India, reports suggest
Nepal too has received one million dosage of the Indian vaccine, which is currently being circulated as part of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive.
Published: 08:10 pm Feb 16, 2021
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 16
South Africa, which is grappling with the new variant of the COVID-19, has asked the Pune-based Serum Institute of India to take back a million doses of the COVISHIELD vaccine.
According to a report published by the Economic Times today, the African nation's decision to return the COVISHIELD vaccines, the Indian name for UK's Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, comes a week following the announcement of putting a hold on the use of the vaccines.
South Africa's Health Minister was quoted as saying in the Indian media, that the country will return the Covishield vaccines, as a small clinical trial has found it to be only slightly effective against mild to moderate illness of the South African COVID-19 variant.
There has been no reaction from the Serum Institute of India regarding the issue, as yet.
Nepal too has received one million dosage of the Indian vaccine, which is currently being circulated as part of the country's COVID-19 vaccination drive.