India to buy 50 million doses of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine: Report

Last week, India had approved Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine of COVID-19 for emergency use.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing people familiar with the matter, reported on August 11 that India is in talks to buy 50 million doses of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine.

This comes after the country is looking for ways to increase the drive of COVID-19 vaccination alongside easing the pressure of the production of vaccines.

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The WSJ reported stated, “It is also expecting to receive about seven million doses of a vaccine made by Moderna Inc. from the U. S. through Covax, a program to supply COVID-19 vaccines to poorer nations.”

However, both Union Health Ministry and Pfizer did not respond immediately to Reuters’ request for comments. The drugmaker is yet to sought permission for use of its vaccine in the country.

According to the report, authorities are in an advanced stage of negotiations with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), which has a contract with Hyderabad-based Biological E. Ltd., to manufacture 600 million doses.

Last week, the Minister of Health, Mansukh Mandaviya, had announced the country’s emergency use approval of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot COVID-19 vaccine, making it the fifth vaccine to receive such approval. He had said that the move would boost India’s collective fight against coronavirus.

SII-manufactured Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, Russia’s Sputnik V, Moderna and J&J have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in the country.