Indemnity issue still holding up foreign vaccines

Negotiations over indemnity may delay availability of foreign vaccines, but India can cover its adult population by year-end just by using domestic supply, NK Arora, chairman of the Covid working group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization told TOI.

Foreign manufacturers — Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson — want protection from legal action if their vaccines trigger side effects. However, India’s negotiators are insisting there should be a clause. The ongoing talks may delay actual availability.

Arora added the focus is on to make full use of domestic production and supply. “India has not been dependent on foreign vaccines so far," he said. "We will be able to vaccinate the whole adult population by the end of the year with domestic supply. A plan has been drawn out based on the existing vaccines."

If foreign manufacturers are given indemnity, it will apply to domestic manufacturers too. On the domestic supply plan, Arora said there is a commitment of 1.35 billion doses till December, which is enough for first-dose coverage of all adults by year-end.

“In the coming weeks, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D vaccine will hopefully be given emergency use authorisation. And over the next few months, two more shots should be available — Corbevax from Biological E and the mRNA shot from Gennova. The estimated number of doses to be available till December has not taken into account any imported vaccine dose.” NK Arora added