Union Minister Chandrasekhar says Pfizer tried to bully government into giving indemnity to supply COVID jab

Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said that global pharma giant Pfizer tried to bully the Indian government into accepting an indemnity clause for supplying its mRNA COVID vaccine.

Sharing a tweet of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla evading questions on the efficacy of the firm’s COVID vaccine at Davos, Chandrasekhar said the senior leadership of the opposition Congress kept pushing for procuring the foreign vaccine during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Just to remind all Indians, that Pfizer tried to bully Govt of India into accepting conditions of indemity And Cong trio of Rahul, Chidamabaram n Jairam Ramesh kept pushing case of foreign vaccines during Covid (sic),” the minister tweeted. He was reacting to a widely shared video clip Bourla being repeatedly asked about the effectiveness of Pfizer’s vaccine.

As India was hit by the first wave of COVID, there were reports that the talks between the government and the American pharma firm were stuck on the company's demand for legal protection from any claims linked to the use of its jab.

Moneycontrol reached out to Pfizer India spokesperson for comments. The copy will be updated when the response comes in.

Pfizer sought an emergency use nod for its mRNA coronavirus vaccine in December 2020 in India but withdrew the proposal in February 2021 after failing to meet the drug regulator’s demand for a local safety and immunogenicity study.

According to a health ministry official, Pfizer sought an exception for conducting a local safety and immunogenicity study, citing approvals in the United States and Germany.

Chandrasekhar’s remarks come at a time when the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have flagged Pfizer and BioNTech's updated (bivalent) COVID vaccine for its possible link to a type of brain (ischemic) stroke in people aged 65 and older.

“I have no idea on this issue,” Dr VK Paul, the head of country's Covid-19 task force, told Moneycontrol when asked if Pfizer had indeed pressured the government.

Paul, in May 2021, had said Pfizer “indicated vaccine availability” of its mRNA jab and that both the Indian government and the US firm were “working together for the earliest possible import of the vaccine”.