Patralekha Chatterjee | Why trust needs to be the key word in 2021
Published : Jan 7, 2021, 4:00 am IST
Updated : Jan 7, 2021, 4:00 am IST
Opacity in decision-making, attempts to gloss over mistakes or polarise the populace on any count will punch holes in the trust narrative
The controversy, however, is more about the drug regulator’s emergency approval to the second coronavirus vaccine, the indigenously produced Covaxin, before critical efficacy data of the third phase of clinical trials are out.
India has a good story to tell when it comes to vaccines it produces more than 60 per cent of all vaccines sold across the globe. Why then has India’s final approval of two Covid-19 vaccines kicked up such a storm, with many respected health experts and scientists calling it a hasty decision?
India prepares for massive COVID-19 vaccination drive Intense concerns
The All India Drug Action Network, a nonprofit health watchdog, said it was shocked to see approval for Covaxin, a vaccine candidate with a lack of peer-reviewed safety and efficacy data. In light of the intense concerns arising from the absence of efficacy data and hence the limited regulatory review of the vaccine candidate, the implications of public rollout of an untested product, and lack of transparency, we urge the DCGI to reconsider the recommendations of the expert committee in granting the approval to Covaxin, it said.
Virologists like Shahid Jameel, director of the Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University, said he was confused with the terminology used by the DCGI.
Coronavirus: India′s approval of local vaccine draws criticism | Asia| An in-depth look at news from across the continent | DW dw.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dw.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
India could be at a turning point in its life and death battle against Covid-19 with a steady fall in the number of cases combining with the government’s ambitious plans to roll out vaccines at high speed. Virologists say the declining case trajectory may reflect herd immunity taking hold in localised areas of the country.
Daily new Covid-19 cases in the country have been riding below 20,000 for a number of days and on Monday stood at 16,504. That’s more than six times below the peak hit on September 16 when fresh cases hit 97,784. It was widely forecast in mid-September that India was about to crack a dismal milestone of a record 100,0000 fresh cases a day. Instead, the number of daily cases began slipping. “You can’t miss the trend. I think we have turned a corner,” says virologist Shahid Jameel.