Pfizer To Supply Its Covid-19 Vaccine Only Through Government Channels In India: Report
Pfizer logo (Pic Via Wikipedia)
United States-based global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has reportedly decided to supply its Covid-19 vaccine in India only through the government channels.
The development comes as the Modi government has announced the liberalisation of its Covid-19 vaccination strategy to allow vaccine-makers to charge states and private hospitals a potentially higher rate for their vaccines.
The US pharma giant would supply its vaccine âonly through government contracts based on agreements with respective government authorities and following regulatory authorisation or approvalâ, a Pfizer spokesperson was quoted by the
Updated Yesterday · 07:59 pm Senior citizens wait to receive a Covid-19 vaccine at the Rajawadi hospital in Mumbai on March 3. | Punit Paranjpe / AFP
India on Thursday set a grave new milestone by recording 3.14 lakh new Covid-19 cases – the world’s highest single-day rise in infections since the virus first surfaced in China last year. The country now has 1,59,30,965 total cases. For the first time, 2,104 deaths were recorded and the toll rose to 1,84,657. The second wave of the pandemic is rapidly worsening with the country reporting over 2 lakh cases everyday since April 15.
The Bombay High Court asked the Union government to reconsider its stand that door-to-door vaccination was not feasible, saying it should think about the plight of the elderly and disabled, PTI reported. A division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice GS Kulkarni said the government cannot just “leave old people to die”.
Macau casino operator Sands China Ltd says its adjusted property earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) more than doubled in the first three months of 2021 from the preceding quarter, mostly due to a rebound in premium-mass revenue.
The Macau unit of United States-based gaming group Las Vegas Sands Corp saw its adjusted property EBITDA hit US$100 million in the first quarter, compared to US$47 million in fourth-quarter 2020. The first-quarter figure was 49.3-percent higher than a year earlier.
Hong Kong-based analyst Andrew Lee of Jefferies LLC, said in a Thursday note that Sands China’s EBITDA had improved sequentially in the first quarter, to the “highest level since the pandemic started, and higher than both our and consensus estimates”.
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer will supply its coronavirus vaccine only through government channel in India, reported
The Indian Express on Thursday.
This means that the vaccine of the United States-based company may not be available through private hospitals unless the central or state governments sell doses to these medical facilities, according to the newspaper.
“Pfizer remains committed to continuing our engagement with the government towards making the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine available for use in the government’s immunisation programme in the country,” a company spokesperson told
The Indian Express.
India had on Monday opened up its inoculation distribution strategy, allowing companies to sell vaccines directly to states and private companies.