Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson yet to apply for their COVID vaccine licenses in India: Sources

As India's vaccination drive drops in pace, govt sources on Thursday, informed that US pharma giants Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson are yet to apply for licence to distribute its COVID vaccines in India. While govt has stated that it is in talks with US pharma companies Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna to import its vaccines, none of these talks has fructified yet. India is currently vaccinating citizens with Covishield, Covaxin, Sputnik-V and has given an emergency nod to Moderna.

Pfizer, Moderna yet to apply for licence

Last week,  NITI Aayog member VK Paul informed, "We are in touch with them (Moderna and Pfizer). It is a process of negotiation and dialogues. We are trying to get a solution for contractual and commitment issues. The process is ongoing.”

In June, Pfizer issued a statement that it continues to remain engaged with the Government of India towards making its COVID-19 vaccine available for use in the country's immunization program. DCGI has already exempted specific trials of COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by some other international regulatory bodies. Moreover, govt sources said that the “there is no issue” in granting indemnity to the US pharma companies as the approval was in line with th US govt's approach. Following this, the Serum Institue of India (SII)  urged other Indian vaccine manufacturers to seek similar protection from the govt.

Pfizer & Moderna vaccine 91% effective

A US study has revealed that Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are 91% effective in fighting against the COVID-19 virus. 91% effectiveness will be seen after two weeks of the second jab.  The result stated that only 5 %(204) participants have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, out of which, 156 were not vaccinated, 32 had indeterminate vaccine status and 16 were completely or partially vaccinated. The presence of fever was reduced by 58% in those who still got infected and the need for bed during sickness was reduced by 60% only. Both vaccines have also shown effectiveness against the Delta variant, which is the prevailing variant in India.

Similarly, one-shot Johnson & Johnson's COVID vaccine (Janssen) has generated strong, persistent activity against the rapidly spreading Delta variant and other highly prevalent COVID variants. The eight-month-long study which has been submitted to bioRxiv for review, showed that the single-shot vaccine has neutralizing antibody activity against the Delta variant at an even higher level than what was recently observed for the Beta (B.1.351) variant in South Africa. The study has stated that the Jannsen vaccine was 85 percent effective against severe/critical disease and demonstrated protection against hospitalization and death.