New Delhi: India's government will not import COVID-19 vaccines itself but expects states and companies to do so, two government officials told Reuters, a decision that may slow acquisitions of shots just as a second wave of the pandemic rips through the country.They said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government would instead aim to support domestic vaccine makers by guaranteeing purchases from them.
The government this month paid Indian vaccine makers in advance, for the first time, for supply of doses.After cases began soaring this month, Modi's government urged Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson to seek permission to sell their shots in India, and he relaxed rules for them.But the sources said New Delhi was now leaving it up to.