NEW DELHI :Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it would work towards bringing the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Germany's BioNTech to India after the government eased import rules, after withdrawing its application in February.
"We have noted the recent announcement with regard to the regulatory pathway for global vaccines," a Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters in an email.
"We remain committed to continuing our engagement with the government towards making the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine available for use in the government’s immunisation program."
Earlier today, the Indian government said it would allow the granting of emergency licensure for vaccines that have received authorization in the US, UK, Europe, Japan or from the World Health Organization (WHO).
The move comes at a time when India is facing a vaccine shortage as both Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech International struggle to scale up capacity of Covishield and Covaxin, respectively, to meet domestic demand even as the new wave of covid-19 takes daily new additions to record levels.
On Monday, India added more than 160,000 new cases, taking its total active cases to 1.25 million. This is in sharp contrast with the situation in January when case addition was under 20,000 a day on a regular basis.
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