Prime Minister Modi urged states to work with the government to keep distribution infrastructure ready. (Archive)
New Delhi:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned on Tuesday that any COVID-19 vaccine could lead to side effects in some people, as even popular drugs do, and that the government would only rely on science to finalize one for the country.
The comments came ahead of the possible launch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine early next year in India, the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections in the world after the United States.
The question of who pays claims for damages for unexpected side effects has been a sore point in supply negotiations between countries and drug manufacturers over potential vaccines. Some richer countries have agreed full or partial exemptions from corporate liability to ensure shots.
Officials have not commented on who would be responsible if any vaccine had serious unintended consequences. Brazil has said it will not exempt vaccine manufacturers from liability, but Mexico could share part of the burden with laboratories.
Prime Minister Modi said that both speed and safety were equally important in launching a vaccine, but that once established scientific processes had determined the right path, India would follow suit.
“Even medicines popular for 20 years and used by hundreds of thousands of people provoke reactions in some, even today,” Prime Minister Modi said in a videoconference with senior ministers.
“It’s also possible with vaccines. Any decision about them should only be weighed on a scientific scale. Whatever vaccine goes through the world’s certified processes, we will have to accept it and move on.”
Prime Minister Modi said it was not yet known which vaccine would be launched in India and at what price, but urged states to work with the government to keep distribution infrastructure such as cold stores ready.
After the results of the third stage trial of the AstraZeneca vaccine were revealed on Monday, the Serum Institute of India said it would first focus on supplying its local market in the coming months.
The other experimental vaccines under test in India are the government and COVAXIN from Bharat Biotech; The Sputnik-V of Russia; ZyCoV-D from Zydus Cadila and finally one that Biological E. Ltd is developing with Baylor College of Medicine and Dynavax Technologies Corp.
India recorded 37,975 new infections on Tuesday, bringing the total to 9.18 million. Deaths increased by 480, with a total now at 134,218.
.
