India will have to wait till 2022 to procure US Pharma company Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine as its supplies are “fully booked till 2021,” Hindustan Times reported quoting an internal government report.
The Indian government has been in continuous discussion with the US-based pharmaceutical company Moderna to make its vaccine a part of India’s countrywide vaccination drive.
Moderna’s vaccine named after the company itself has been developed through mRNA technology and has an efficacy rate of 94.1%. However, due to the large demands from all around the world, its vaccines have already been booked by many countries.
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On June 11, the Indian government had set up a special commission consisting of 5 members and headed by a NITI Ayog (Medical) member to deal with the issues related to the procurement of Covid vaccines from foreign manufacturers.
This team has been in continuous dialogue with Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to discuss and address various issues including the issue of indemnity, the health ministry informed Parliament on Friday.
“Discussions with Moderna yielded their interest in supplies of their vaccine only in 2022 as their orders were fully booked for the year 2021. Moderna’s leadership also showed interest in a discussion for production of Moderna vaccines in India in next few years,” the government report said.
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The report further said that the government has gone through several indemnity clauses and agreements of major Pharmaceutical companies like Pfizer and noted that the indemnity clauses are indeed part of the purchase deals.
However, none of the companies that make vaccines currently approved in India has been given such protection by the government.
“Pfizer agreed to supply several million doses of Pfizer vaccines but insisted on an indemnity agreement to waive off the liability of the company, as well as on sovereign jurisdiction and arbitration,” the report said, adding that Indian missions overseas had established that such agreements were indeed in place and briefed “relevant authorities in India for further discussion and action as deemed appropriate.”
Along with Moderna, Pfizer has also shown around a 95% efficacy rate against the original coronavirus strain that was found in Wuhan, China.
Currently, India has three covid vaccines in its vaccination drive, Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik. It has vaccinated 88 million people, and partially (one dose) vaccinated 242.5 million. It needs another 1.5 billion doses by the end of the year to completely vaccinate the entire adult population, its stated target.
