Resolving bottlenecks in procuring Pfizer’s vaccine

Synopsis – Pfizer has asked for certain conditions. They are in order to supply 5 million doses to India between July and October this year.

Introduction

• According to reports, Pfizer is ready to supply five crore doses of the mRNA vaccines [developed with the German company BioNTech] between July and October.
• However, the company has requested certain protection from the Centre. It has done this with other 116 governments across the world, including the United States.
• Therefore, to seal the deal, the pharmaceutical giant and the Indian government must quickly resolve their long-standing dispute over the protection.

Pre-conditions to supply Vaccine to India:

• Pfizer said that it will supply vaccine only to the central government, not to individual states. The company also refused to send vaccines directly to local governments citing its policy of dealing only with the Central government of various countries.
• The company has also asked for protection from the Government of India. Such as, slots for testing of their vaccines in CDL (Central Drugs Laboratory).
• The company is also requesting that it should not be liable for compensation in case of an adverse event.

What needs to be done in order to increase procurement?

1. Timely vaccination is the need of the hour to protect people against the coronavirus, thus the Centre needs to take charge of all procurement and negotiations with all vaccine suppliers, including domestic and foreign.
2. The government has to consider the global situation in decision-making. Such as, around 14.7 crore doses of Pfizer vaccines have already been administered worldwide without any significant reports of adverse effects.

Source-The Indian Express