India orders 300 mn Covid-19 shots before approval as court asks for vaccine 'roadmap'

People wait to receive a dose of the Covishield vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at a primary health centre in Siliguri

India's government signed its first purchase order for unapproved Covid-19 vaccines on Thursday, a day after it faced criticism from the top judiciary about a bungled vaccine rollout that has left millions of people vulnerable. After a devastating second wave of infections that killed tens of thousands in April-May, the focus has shifted to urgently inoculating India's vast adult population to curb infections later this year. The government will buy 300 million doses from local firm Biological-E and has put down an advance of $205.6 million, the health ministry said, even though the vaccine is still undergoing phase-3 clinical trials, before approvals can be given. ‘The arrangement with M/s Biological-E is part of the wider endeavour of Government of India to encourage indigenous vaccine manufacturers by providing them support in Research & Development (R&D) and also financial support,’ the ministry said in a statement.