New Delhi: The failure to achieve consensus over indemnity could potentially derail the US’ promised vaccine grants for India, it is learnt. India, it seems, has decided that “it will not accept” any vaccine donations from the US as an amicable solution on indemnity issues eludes, top sources told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
The US’ promised vaccine grants for India — part of a worldwide distribution drive — remain far from being shipped despite Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit last week, the sources said. This, even as the vaccines have begun to reach other countries, including India’s neighbours.
According to top sources, US vaccine manufacturers’ demand for protection against lawsuits triggered by potential adverse effects has also thrown a spanner in talks for co-production of Covid jabs.
US President Joe Biden announced in May 2021 that his administration would be sharing 80 million Covid vaccine doses with countries battling the pandemic, including India.
The 80 million shots, the US said, would include 20 million from their own stocks, in addition to 60 million AstraZeneca doses being manufactured in the country.
In June, President Biden announced that the distribution of the vaccines would be done in two tranches — 25 million and 55 million — and India was to receive vaccine doses under both.
The sources, however, said the donations could not go through since US vaccine makers Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson refused to budge on the issue of indemnity.
When External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited the US in May, where he met several key leaders to clear the supply chain and indemnity-related legal bottlenecks, the differences seemed to have been smoothed out.
India was readying itself to receive the vaccines, but, owing to pressure from domestic vaccine makers, who also demanded sovereign indemnity, the matter reached a “dead-end” between India and the US, sources said.
“Nothing has moved so far on the donations and not a single dose has come to India from the US … Legal review is still underway and these things take time,” said a source.
The matter was also discussed during Blinken’s visit to India last week but both countries apparently could not resolve the matter. However, Blinken announced that the US would be giving an additional $25 million to support vaccination efforts across India.
“This funding will contribute, I think, to saving lives by strengthening vaccine supply chain logistics, addressing misinformation and vaccine hesitancy, and helping to train more healthcare workers,” said Blinken.
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Co-production prospects also look grim
Earlier this year, New Delhi and Washington also decided to focus on co-production of the American Covid vaccines in India, as part of a proposed partnership between US firms and domestic manufacturers. These vaccines, it was decided, would not just be for the Indian market but also for distribution in the neighbourhood.
Even that has not yet taken off owing to indemnity issues, sources said, adding that American manufacturers are insistent on protection from legal liability in the event of severe adverse reactions.
During the joint media address by Blinken and Jaishankar last week in New Delhi, the External Affairs Minister said both sides highlighted that they are now focusing on “expanding vaccines production to make it globally affordable and accessible” under the Quad framework.
“We were very appreciative of the support, the — I would say, really, the openness with which the Biden administration has kept these supply chains open, which has enabled us today to really scale up the vaccine numbers,” said Jaishankar.
He added, “But this is also a work in progress. So, given the nature of the industry, the nature of the changes in vaccinations which are coming into stream, we will have to keep working at it.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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