Pfizer in talks with India over expedited approval for COVID-19 vaccine

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla on Monday said that the company is in discussions with the Indian government seeking an "expedited approval pathway" for its COVID-19 vaccine.

He also announces a donation of medicines worth more than $70 million.

"Unfortunately, our vaccine is not registered in India although our application was submitted months ago," he said.

"We are currently discussing with the Indian government an expedited approval pathway to make our Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine available for use in the country."

For a 12th straight day, India reported more than 300,000 new coronavirus cases, taking its overall caseload to just shy of 20 million, while deaths from COVID-19 rose by 3,417.

With 368,147 new cases over the past 24 hours, India's total infections stand at 19.93 million, while total fatalities are 218,959, according to health ministry data.

Medical experts say real numbers across the country of 1.35 billion maybe five to 10 times higher than the official tally.

Hospitals have filled to capacity, medical oxygen supplies have run short and morgues and crematoriums have been swamped as the country deals with the surge in cases.