Serum Institute of India’s Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla has said that he and other Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers in the country...
Serum Institute of India’s Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla has said that he and other Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers in the country will ask the government to provide them protection against lawsuits, suing them for adverse reactions to their shots at the time of inoculation, reported PTI on Saturday.
This is because such matters could potentially increase fears about getting vaccinated, Poonawalla said while addressing a virtual panel on the challenges of developing a vaccine against the coronavirus, at the Carnegie India’s Global Technology Summit on Friday. He added that such punitive actions also works to “bankrupt or distract” companies that would be producing the vaccines, he said.
“We need to have the government indemnify manufacturers, especially vaccine manufacturers, against all lawsuits,” Poonawalla said. “In fact, Covax and other countries have already started talking about that.”
He said that when “frivolous” claims crop up, that are “blown out of proportion by the media”, it affects the confidence of not just the companies, but of the general public too. “And to dispel that, the government needs to step in to spread the right information,” the Serum chief said. “The government can act.”
Poonawalla gave the example of the United States, saying the country has invoked a law to indemnify vaccine...
