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NEW DELHI (AFP): A homegrown COVID-19 vaccine will be rolled out in India from Saturday even though clinical trials haven’t been completed but the country’s government insists it will be safe and effective.
In early January 2021, New Delhi greenlighted Covishield, a version of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s shot made by India’s Serum Institute, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer.
However, it also gave “emergency approval” to Covaxin, developed in India by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research, even though phase 3 human trials were yet to be completed.
The All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN), an independent watchdog, led a chorus of concern from experts saying it was “shocked” and “baffled” by the emergency approval of Covaxin.
Authorities stated — without releasing supporting data — that Covaxin might work better against new COVID-19 strains than other vaccines that use different technologies.
According to Prabir Chatterjee, a community medicine specialist in West Bengal, the lack of data was causing a lot of upset among doctors and very senior doctors and scientists.
“I would guess that the Bharat Biotech vaccine, after it has been evaluated, may be the best, the cheapest and the most practical for developing countries,” he said, adding “But I don’t think we should jumpstart the process by using it before it has been proved.”
The main opposition Congress party accused the government of putting lives at risk. The health minister of one state, Chhattisgarh, has said the Bharat vaccine is “not safe” to deploy.