Reliance Foundation seeks govt nod to import J&J Covid vaccine doses for its workforce in India

Mumbai: Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, has sought the government’s authorisation to import 20 lakh doses of US-based Johnson and Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for captive consumption and to inoculate its workforce pan India, sources said.

In a recent communication to the Union Health Ministry, Reliance Foundation has said the imported Johnson and Johnson vaccine will be administered within the organisation only and not at all be used for commercial purpose, sources said.

The Foundation may source additional quantities too, the company is learnt to have communicated.

It may also explore the possibilities of importing jabs from other vaccine producers in the future and the same will be used for internal purposes only, the organisation has said.

Led by Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani’s wife Nita Ambani, Reliance Foundation was set up in 2010 to provide impetus to various philanthropic initiatives of RIL.

The Foundation has told the government that during the unprecedented pandemic, it has strived to stand shoulder-to-shoulder to provide all possible relief support to the society at large by setting up Covid-19 hospitals and care centres and providing free meals.