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BIG STORY JUNE 11, 2021 | The Indian Eye 6

the second wave of the pandem- empt it from legal claims in case
ic has provided an experiential there are any adverse effects
learning that the Covid-19 vi- from the vaccine. NITI Aayog
rus is capable of mutation and Member (Health) Dr VK Paul
now poses a threat to per- had said on May 27 that the gov-
sons in this age group as well.” ernment is still examining the
In its affidavit earlier, the American pharma company’s
Centre had urged the court to request for indemnity. “We are
trust the wisdom of the execu- examining this request and will
tive and leave policy decisions to make a decision in the larger
it. On this, the bench said while interest of people and on mer-
separation of powers is a basic it. This is under discussion and
feature of the Constitution and there is no decision as of now,”
policy-making is the sole do- he had said.
main of the executive, it “does No company in India’s vac-
not result in courts lacking juris- cination history has ever paid
diction in conducting a judicial A health worker poses for a photograph with Sputnik V vaccine indemnity and the govern-
review of these policies”. during a pilot vaccination program at Apollo Hospitals Jubilee Hills in ment, which is the biggest user
Amid such situation, India Hyderabad Monday. (ANI Photo) of vaccines, has also not done
has been trying to get more vac- it, Dr Nirmal K Ganguly, for-
cines from abroad. India was mer ICMR chief had said on
hoping its Covid vaccine sup- Wednesday.
plies will get a new push follow- The Drugs Controller Gen-
ing External Affairs Minister S. eral of India (DCGI) had ear-
Jaishankar’s visit to the US last lier exempted specific trials of
week as New Delhi and Wash- COVID-19 vaccines that have
ington were able to “iron out” been approved by some other
supply chain bottlenecks and international regulatory bod-
issues around indemnity. ies. This is likely to clear the way
Jaishankar began his visit to of foreign COVID-19 vaccines
the US last Monday with the such as Pfizer and Moderna.
primary focus of pushing ahead Pfizer on Wednesday said it
the health cooperation agen- continues to remain engaged
da both at the bilateral level as with the Indian government
well as under the Quadrilater- towards making its coronavi-
al Security Dialogue, or Quad, rus vaccine available for use in
with the procurement of vac- the government immunisation
cines as the main issue. A health worker fills a dose of Covaxin to inoculate a beneficiary against programme.
Addressing a weekly brief- the Covid-19 during a drive-in vaccination at Select City Mall, Saket, in Meanwhile, a day after
ing, MEA spokesperson Arin- New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo) COVID vaccine manufactur-
dam Bagchi said, “The Gov- er Moderna allegedly refused
ernment of India has been vaccines as India’s drug con- sions over possible legal pro- to send vaccines directly to
making all efforts to augment troller relaxes rule which stood tection to foreign vaccine man- the Punjab government, Chief
the availability of vaccines in In- as obstacles for these compa- ufacturers Pfizer and Moderna Minister Arvind Kejriwal on
dia whether through enhanced nies. On Wednesday, the Drug over their COVID-19 jabs in In- Monday informed that Pfiz-
production in the country or Controller General of India dia, the Serum Institute of India er and Moderna have refused
through supply from abroad we (DCGI) eased rules for im- (SII) has also sought protection to sell vaccines directly to the
remain engaged with UN vac- porting COVID-19 vaccines, against liabilities, sources said Delhi government and claimed
cine manufacturers like Pfiz- by exempting rules like manda- on Thursday. “Not just Serum they will only deal with the
er, Moderna and Johnson and tory bridging clinical trials and Institute of India, all the vaccine Central government.
Johnson.” testing of each batch of import- companies should get indemni- In another development,
“As part of this effort, we ed vaccines at India’s Central ty protection against liabilities Indian vaccine manufacturing
are separately also engaged Drug Laboratory (CDL) at Ka- if foreign companies are grant- company Serum Institute of
with US administration to en- sauli in Himachal Pradesh. ed the same,” sources added. India (SII) has sought permis-
sure that components and raw When asked will India be Earlier last year, SII CEO Adar sion from the Drug Controller
materials for vaccine manufac- exporting vaccines in the fu- Poonawala had advocated for General of India (DCGI) for
turing production in India are ture, MEA said India is right indemnity for all vaccine manu- the production of the Russian
readily available and the supply now focused on augmenting facturers. vaccine Sputnik V in India. SII
chain remains open,” Bagchi vaccine supply for domestic Amid the nationwide has applied for a test license to
added. purpose and there is no ques- COVID-19 vaccine crunch, US manufacture the COVID-19
Meanwhile, India has tion of exports at the moment pharma giant Pfizer is seeking vaccine.
inched closer to procure US Meanwhile, amid discus- an indemnity bond that will ex- Continued on next page... >>

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