As India Starts Vaccine Roll Out, Concerns Over Covaxin Remain
- 3 years ago
On Saturday, January 16th, the largest COVID-19 vaccination drive began in India. So far 3.81 lakh healthcare and frontline workers have been administered their first dose of the vaccine. However, the question of which vaccine they are being administered has become a matter of contention.
Earlier this month, the Drugs Controller General of India had given its final approval to Covidshield (developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca) and Covaxin (developed by Bharat Biotech) for restricted use in an emergency situation.
While Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), has 70.42 per cent efficacy, the indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech does not have efficacy details because the trials are still underway.
Several doctors & experts have expressed their disagreement with this hasty rollout.
In the wake of these events, The Wire analyses the approval of Covaxin, which is being administered without any knowledge of its Phase-3 clinical trials.
Earlier this month, the Drugs Controller General of India had given its final approval to Covidshield (developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca) and Covaxin (developed by Bharat Biotech) for restricted use in an emergency situation.
While Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII), has 70.42 per cent efficacy, the indigenous vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech does not have efficacy details because the trials are still underway.
Several doctors & experts have expressed their disagreement with this hasty rollout.
In the wake of these events, The Wire analyses the approval of Covaxin, which is being administered without any knowledge of its Phase-3 clinical trials.