Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday offered neighboring countries to exchange data on effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and ease visa requirements for medical workers, so that they could promptly respond to health emergencies in the region
NEW DELHI (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2021) Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday offered neighboring countries to exchange data on effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines and ease visa requirements for medical workers, so that they could promptly respond to health emergencies in the region.
Modi spoke at a workshop "Covid-19 Management: Experience, Good Practices and Way Forward" with officials and experts from nine neighboring countries, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
"[T]he Prime Minister suggested creating a special visa scheme for our doctors and nurses, so that they can travel quickly within our region during health emergencies, on the request of the receiving country. He also asked whether our Civil Aviation ministries can coordinate a regional Air Ambulance agreement for medical contingencies?" Modi's press service said.
In addition, he suggested creating "a regional platform for collating, compiling and studying data about the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among our populations."
India has already sent nearly 23 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines in both donations and commercial batches to over 20 countries. As part of the Vaccine Maitri (Vaccine Friendship) campaign, it supplies the domestically-manufactured Covishield vaccine, developed jointly by UK-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the Oxford University, free-of-charge to partner countries as a gesture of goodwill.
