(Image source from: economictimes.com)

There is an acute shortage of vaccines in the country considering the current population and the spread of coronavirus. The government of India was cornered because of the vaccination crisis in the market. The Centre is now likely to grant indemnity against the legal proceedings for Moderna and Pfizer, the foreign vaccine makers before the country roll out the vaccinations in India. The Indian government has been against Pfizer in the past and it never gave indemnity to any vaccine maker. Pfizer got indemnity in many countries of the globe and they are used in multiple countries of the globe. Indian vaccine maker Serum Institute of India too asked the Centre for the same for Covishield.

Indemnity means security against a loss and it is a contractual obligation to compensate the loss. If the Indian government gives an indemnity for the foreign vaccine makers, they should compensate the loss for any citizen if they have any side effects after taking up the vaccination shot. The Indian government says that Pfizer will be able to make the doses from July this year. The Indian government is looking at the practices followed by other countries to grant the indemnity coverage. Pfizer has been shipping doses to various parts of the globe and their shipment accuracy is 99.9 percent. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) decided to approve the foreign vaccines without any trials to meet the shortage in the country.

By Siva Kumar