‘India likely to grant indemnity to Moderna, soon’

New Delhi: India is close to agreeing to grant protection to Moderna against legal liability which will allow the immediate import of about 7 million doses of the US company’s Covid-19 vaccine, two people in the know told ET. These shots of the Moderna vaccine, donated by the US government, will reach India once the issue of indemnity is sorted out. This could happen as early as this week, they said.

“While India is agreeing to indemnity, we have asked them to suitably modify certain words in the agreement. Wordings make a difference; the analysing and understanding have to be country-specific. They need to be refined and that’s what has led to some delay,” a government official said. Moderna will be supplying its vaccine to India through Cipla. Last week, India’s drug regulator granted permission to Cipla to import the donated doses of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine.

“We are expecting a few million doses as a donation from the US government,” said the official. This will be minuscule, and India will have to depend on its own vaccine production, he added.