India to export 8 million Covid-19 jabs in October

Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to resume exports at a meeting of leaders from the so-called Quad in Washington as India, Japan, Australia, and the US try to counter growing Chinese influence across the Asia-Pacific region. 

Foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told reporters on Saturday that most of the eight million doses of the Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine will be sent to Asia-Pacific countries. 

"This would be ready by the end of October. This is an immediate delivery, from the Quad into the Indo-Pacific region," Shringla told reporters.

India is one of the world's biggest vaccine producers and had pledged earlier this year to export one billion Covid-19 jabs by December 2022.