US drugmaker Pfizer is in talks with the Indian government over supplies of its Covid-19 vaccine, the company said on Tuesday (25), as New Delhi scrambles to bridge shortfalls, having pledged to fast-track approvals for overseas vaccines.
"Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government of India towards making the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine available for use in the country," a spokeswoman told Reuters in an e-mailed statement.
Last week, Reuters reported Pfizer was in talks with the government to defuse tension over supplies.
According to reports, Pfizer and the Indian government are seeking to resolve tensions over a demand by the drugmaker for legal protection from any claims linked to the use of its Covid-19 vaccine.
India has not given any manufacturer of a Covid-19 vaccine indemnity against the costs of compensation for any severe side effects, which is a condition Pfizer has obtained in many countries where its shots have already been widely used, including Britain and the US.
But three other sources told Reuters that some form of legal protection is still on the table as India and Pfizer work to reach a vaccine deal.
Currently, India is struggling to secure needed Covid-19 vaccine doses as recorded daily cases are around 200,000. Indian officials said that 98 per cent of its population of about 1.3 billion remains susceptible to infection.
According to sources, Pfizer cannot finalize terms of a supply agreement, including indemnity, if the vaccine is not first authorized for use in India.
The drugmaker withdrew its application for emergency use authorisation for the vaccine developed with Germany's BioNTech in February after India insisted on such a trial.
But three other shots on sale in India, developed by AstraZeneca, Russia's Sputnik V and Bharat Biotech in collaboration with state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, have completed the small-scale safety trials.
Pfizer's chief executive Albert Bourla said on May 4 that he was hopeful that the government would change its policy of local trials and that a path to delivering the drugmaker's shots in India could be found.
Rishi Sunak and Akshata Murty. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images) 
