India ‘set for huge boost’ in Covid vaccine supplies

(Representative photo)

India expects to get about 266mn Covid-19 vaccine doses in August as a simpler licensing process has helped the government secure far more than earlier expected, the president of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party said yesterday. Late last month, a senior government official told reporters that the government could only count on getting about 150mn doses in August. Since then, India’s drug regulator has approved the Johnson & Johnson vaccine — though the company has not yet committed to a delivery schedule — and commercial production of Russia’s Sputnik V in India could start too. Indian drugmaker Cadila Healthcare’s ZyCoV-D could also be approved soon, the health minister said this month. Writing in a column for the Times of India daily, Jagat Prakash Nadda, president of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, credited Modi for making it easier for vaccine makers to get approval. “Among the many significant decisions taken by the PM is simplifying compulsory licensing policy to speed up vaccine production,” Nadda wrote. “It ensured clearance for manufacturing of Russia’s Sputnik V in the country and just a few days back Johnson & Johnson vaccine has also been given clearance. In the coming days more vaccines will be available in India.” Nadda, who was the health minister in Modi’s first term, said India’s vaccine supply will reach 266.5mn doses in August, 261.5mn in September, 282.5mn in October, 282.5mn in November and 285mn doses in December. The health ministry, whose end-July target of supplying 516mn doses fell short, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nadda’s projections.