US State Department spokesman Ned Price said that once approved by the Indian government, we will immediately deliver the doses of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to India.
Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine
America has said that it is waiting for the Indian government to give a green signal to send the COVID Vaccine. America is donating vaccines to many countries to fight corona worldwide. US State Department spokesman Ned Price said, “We are ready to deliver the vaccine rapidly once we get the green light from the Indian government.” But in the case of India, it is taking time, because there are legal barriers to emergency imports, Price said.
America had announced to share 80 million vaccine doses from its domestic stock with countries around the world. Under this, 30 to 40 lakh vaccine doses of Moderna and Pfizer were to come in India’s part. It is worth noting here that Moderna has got approval for use from the ‘Drug Controller General of India’ (DCGI). But Pfizer has not yet applied for emergency clearance in India. Let us tell you that so far America has delivered the vaccine to Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
What are the legal hurdles in India?
Ned Price said, before the delivery of these vaccine doses, each country has to complete its set of operational, regulatory and legal procedures. These sets are different for every country. At the same time, India has determined that it needs more time to review the legal provisions related to accepting vaccine donations. He said, once India works under its legal procedures, the vaccine will be rapidly delivered to India.
Price said, broadly across South Asia, we are donating millions of vaccine doses to Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Around 40 million doses have been delivered worldwide so far.
There is no agreement on commercial supply
The vaccine dose given to India is a part of American donation. So far no agreement has been reached on the commercial supply of these vaccines in India. DCGI has approved Moderna and Cipla will import these vaccines from the US. But no decision has been taken on legal compensation yet. Moderna and Pfizer want legal protection in India that will protect them from legal cases in the country.
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