Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla responds to Pune man's inquiry on vaccine availability in India

As vaccine shortages continue across states in India, a Pune-based marketing professional has reached out to Albert Bourla, the chairman and CEO of Pfizer. 58-year-old Prakash Mirpuri in his email to Albert Bourla inquired about the availability of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in India. To his surprise, Bourla issued a response on the Pfizer vaccine in India. 

Albert Bourla responds to Pune man inquiring about Pfizer vaccine 

In his reply, Albert Bourla inquired about Mirpuri's health while appreciating his efforts in trying to get his family inoculated with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. In addition, Bourla also informed Mirpur that he has been trying to get the vaccine cleared in India soon as per the regulatory norms.

"We do not yet have regulatory approval in India, and we are doing all that we can to bring this about and reach an agreement with the government to make our vaccine available for the government's immunization programme," Bourla wrote.

Pfizer's COVID Vaccine Likely To Be Available In India In July: Govt 

Earlier on Thursday, NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul revealed that the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will likely be available in India in July. In addition, Dr Paul also informed that Pfizer has has sought indemnity against liability and the Centre is examining the request. 

"We are engaged with Pfizer as they've indicated the availability of a certain volume of vaccines in the coming months, possibly in July. They've requested indemnity against liability to all the nations. We are examining this request. There is no decision as of now," Dr VK Paul said on Thursday. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has shown an overall efficacy of 95 per cent after both doses. Additionally, it has proved to be effective against all age groups and all variants of Coronavirus. Earlier, Pfizer had withdrawn its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) application in India after the Centre had sought additional information regarding its COVID-19 vaccine.