India to not buy Pfizer, Moderna vaccines as local production jumps

India's government will not buy Covid-19 shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, government sources said, mainly because the domestic output of more affordable and easier-to-store vaccines has jumped.

That essentially means the globally popular vaccines, which their makers have pledged not to sell to private parties during the pandemic, will not be available for now in the world's two most populous countries - China and India.

The Indian government has also declined to meet the US companies' requests for legal protection over any side effects from the use of their shots, which are currently made only in the United States or Europe, sources said.