India gets a pat from China on its COVID-19 vaccine, albeit reluctantly

As demand for the India-made COVID-19 vaccines gathers pace in foreign countries, even China seems to have grudgingly conceded that India's COVID-19 vaccines are good, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent.

In a report in the China Communist Party's mouthpiece, experts note that India's plans to export the vaccine "could be good news for the global market given India's competitive vaccine research and production capacity" and that "India's vaccines are no less competitive than Chinese COVID-19 vaccines in both research and production capacity, considering that India has the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and lower costs in labour and facilities."

However, the report alleges that India's covid preparedness is a political brand-building affair meant "to counter the international influence of Chinese vaccines despite China setting its own pace of a vaccine rollout."

“Political and economic motive” alleged

Stating that New Delhi allegedly has a "political and economic motive," analysts have been quoted as saying that the Indian government's move seeks to recoup the cost of giving free vaccinations to its own people.

Jiang Chunlai from Jilin University's School of Life Sciences, who had visited Bharat Biotech, has been quoted as saying: "Despite India's reputation for generic drugs, the country is not behind China in vaccine R&D."

Commenting on another Indian vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, he adds: "India has the world's largest vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India that has a very mature production and supply capacity, even stronger than some Western countries. Indian vaccine manufacturers also have a much earlier cooperation with global institutes including WHO, GAVI and the PAHO, and earned their trust decades ago."

However, an official at the China Association for Vaccine warned that countries importing Indian-developed vaccines should not rashly roll out the vaccine to its own people, given the absence of data and information (of India's domestically-developed vaccine), but should only apply it for emergency use.