India supplies non-J&J vaccines to Cambodia and Thailand under Quad umbrella

India has supplied COVID-19 vaccines to Cambodia and Thailand under an initiative of the Quad group of countries, New Delhi said last week, though not the Johnson & Johnson shot as originally planned.

The leaders of the Quad countries – India, the US, Japan and Australia – could discuss the vaccine supply plan when they meet in Japan, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson, Indian Foreign Ministry, told a news conference.

“We have sent, under the Quad umbrella, vaccines to Cambodia and Thailand,” Bagchi said.

“Yes, the original plan was to use a different modality, but the final objective is to ensure that vaccines are shared under the Quad umbrella to those countries who need them.”

Bagchi did not give numbers, but Indian foreign ministry data shows that India last month sent 200,000 doses of Covovax, a version of the Novavax vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to Thailand under the Quad programme.

India separately shipped 325,000 doses of Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca shot made by the Serum Institute of India (SII), to Cambodia, the data shows.

The Quad was originally supposed to supply J&J doses made by Biological E to Southeast Asian and other countries, as a counter to China’s vaccine donations around the world.

Edits by EP News Bureau