India may issue indemnity to Moderna

India is on the verge of agreeing to grant indemnity to Moderna, which will provide legal protection against adverse events of its COVID-19 vaccine.

The seven million doses donated by the US government are expected to reach India as early as this week, once the issue of indemnity is sorted, The Economic Times has reported.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the story.

Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against COVID-19 recently received emergency use authorisation (EUA) from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI). The Indian drug regulator has also given pharmaceutical firm Cipla permission to import the shots.

“While India is agreeing to indemnity, we have asked them to suitably modify certain words in the agreement. Wordings make a difference; the analysing and understanding have to be country-specific. They need to be refined and that’s what has led to some delay,” a government official told the publication.

Moderna’s jab is the fourth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in India, after Covishield (Oxford-AstraZeneca), Covaxin and Sputnik-V. Moneycontrol