Let's admit it.

While we were all (the entire world) together in the lockdowns during the first wave of Covid-19, it was definitely strange for us Indians to see the rest of the world open up while we still followed lockdown procedures under the second wave.

© iStock

© iStock

The main reason why other countries have been able to get back to normalcy faster is because of an effective vaccination policy, with many nations like the US vaccinating a majority of its population.

How have they done it? Simple. They had a lot of vaccines already, which was certainly not the case for India which has a considerably enormous population of 136 crores.

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Well, good news for everyone, as it looks like the Moderna vaccine has become the latest vaccine to finally get the nod for use in India.

Indian multinational pharmaceutical company, Cipla has been given an all-clear to import Moderna's Covid vaccine for restricted emergency use in the country.

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According to Niti Ayog member (Health) V.K. Paul the new drug permission will pave way for the vaccine to be imported in India, making it the fourth vaccine for the country.

On June 28 (Monday), the Mumbai-headquartered Pharma giant had filed an application to seek permission to import the Moderna vaccine.

It had referred to DCGI notices dated April 15 and June 1 stating that if a vaccine is approved by the USFDA for EUA, it can be granted marketing authorization without bridging trial and assessment of safety data.

This was in the case of the first 100 beneficiaries of vaccines that had to be submitted before rolling out an immunization program.

#Moderna, the first international vaccine in India

No bridging trials in India for #MODERNA vaccine

Storage at -25 to -15, for 7 months

Normal storage after vial is opened is 30 days

Dr VK Paul, Member-Health, @NITIAayog pic.twitter.com/ZROgatnhEn

According to Moderna, the US government has also agreed to donate to a certain number of doses of the Moderna vaccine through COVAX to India.

It has sought approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for these vaccines.

Pfizer and Moderna have both demanded an indemnity bond that will exempt them from legal claims in case of any adverse effects from the vaccines when administered in India.

Moderna, which is similar to Pfizer in terms of being an mRNA vaccine, is said to be 90 percent effective against Covid.

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According to reports, after Moderna, Pfizer will be the next in line for use in India. 

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