A top official said on Thursday that the government is in talks with Pfizer and is considering its demand for an indemnity from any adverse effects if its vaccine is rolled out in India, as the government defended India’s vaccine procurement policy by separately releasing a document rebutting recent criticism.
The government stated in a statement that it has been “engaged continuously” with major vaccine manufacturers since mid-2020, but that the companies have “their own priorities, game-plans, and compulsions in allocating finite stocks.”
“There have been multiple rounds of discussions with Pfizer, J&J, and Moderna. The government offered them all assistance in supplying and/or manufacturing their vaccines in India. Their vaccines, on the other hand, are not freely available. “We must understand that purchasing vaccines from other countries is not the same as purchasing ‘off the shelf’ items,” according to the Myths and Facts on India’s Vaccination Process document shared by the Press Information Bureau and re-shared by several ministers.
The document, however, does not address the main criticism levelled by experts: India did not place any advance purchase orders – also known as advance marketing commitments (AMC) – with any of the vaccine manufacturers, including domestic manufacturers, until just before the roll-out.
Later, at the government’s routine briefing on Covid-19, Niti Aayog member (health) Dr VK Paul confirmed that India was now in talks with Pfizer. “Yes, we are in talks with Pfizer, since they indicated they have certain amount of vaccines available in the coming months — possibly starting in July. We are looking at what their expectations from the government are and they are looking at what our expectations are,” he said.
“They have requested indemnity from all the nations, including the country of origin, US. We are examining this request and we will take decision in the larger interest of people and on merits. It’s under discussion but there is no decision as of now,” he added.
In the document, the government also refuted the “myth” that it had not approved vaccines available globally by accelerating approvals for vaccines cleared by the World Health Organization and regulatory agencies in the West and Japan.
Haffkine Biopharmaceuticals, Indian Immunulogicals, and Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Ltd. are the three public sector units. The Union government also stated that mandatory licencing, as proposed by several opposition leaders, would be ineffective because manufacturing requires “active partnership, training of human resources, sourcing of raw materials, and the highest levels of bio-safety labs.”
According to the government, the first orders were placed in the second week of January, when India agreed to buy 60 million doses from Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. On March 12, a second purchase order for 100 million doses was placed from the two manufacturers, and the most recent, for 160 million doses, was placed on April 28 for supplies through July.
