Shun vaccine nationalism, scientists tell government
Updated:
Updated:
April 15, 2021 22:33 IST
Government should provide funds requested by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to ramp up production, they say.
Share Article
AAA
Government should provide funds requested by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to ramp up production, they say.
The All India Peoples Science Network, in a statement issued on handling the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India, said vaccine nationalism was a “wholly misconceived” idea and it must be given up.
“There is a wholly misconceived campaign being mounted, including by some political parties and sections of the media, that India should stop commercial and aid-based exports of vaccines so as to prioritise domestic needs,” the statement said.
Image Courtesy: Business Line
London: The vaccines produced by Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca to protect against COVID-19 are safe and there is no evidence to suggest that the jabs are the cause behind blood clots, as reported in some European countries, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical major and the UK’s medicines regulator have said.
The interventions come as the Netherlands became the latest country to suspend the use of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which also has a tie-up with the Serum Institute of India, after some reports of blood clotting.
It follows the Republic of Ireland, Bulgaria, Denmark, Norway and Iceland all pausing the administration of the vaccines as a precautionary measure after concerns raised around thrombotic events or clots.
Efficacy report pending, yet government greenlights use of indigenously developed Covaxin
Sabrangindia16 Jan 2021
Even as India kickstarts its nationwide Covid vaccination campaign, a new controversy has erupted over the approval to use Bharat Biotech’s indigenously developed Covaxin, whose efficacy data is still awaited.
Concerns are being raised about granting emergency use authorisation to Covaxin, an indigenously developed vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biocon, even though the third phase of its trial isn’t completed and its efficacy data is not yet available. In fact, the authorization was granted “in clinical trial mode”, which raises even more questions.
There are at present two vaccines that are being offered; Covishield developed by a team from Oxford University in association with pharma major Astra Zeneca, and Covaxin, an indigenously developed Covid vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biocon in association with the Indian Council of Medical Rese