Shashi Tharoor Leads Objection Against Hasty Approval Of Covaxin; BJP Hits Back

Picture courtesy TED/ James Duncan Davidson

New Delhi: Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh, along with Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party, have raised objections to coronavirus vaccine Covaxin being approved without efficacy data.

“Covaxin has not yet had Phase 3 trials. Approval was premature and could be dangerous. @drharshvardhan should please clarify. Its use should be avoided till full trials are over. India can start with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the meantime,” tweeted Tharoor.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan hit back, calling it “disgraceful for anyone to politicise such a critical issue.”

He explained that Covaxin is “likely to have similar protective efficacy reported for others”, despite the lack of efficacy data from phase 3 trials.

“Vaccines approved globally based on gene encoding spike proteins have protective efficacy of over 90 per cent. However, Covaxin based on whole inactivated virus has other antigenic epitopes in addition to spike protein. So, it’s likely to have similar protective efficacy reported for others,” Harsh Vardhan said.

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) chief VG Somani stated that they will not approve anything if there is slightest concern over safety and that these vaccines are “110 per cent safe”.

BJP chief JP Nadda tweeted, “Congress and the Opposition is not proud of anything Indian. They should introspect about how their lies on the COVID-19 vaccine will be used by vested interest groups for their own agendas.”

Also Read: WHO Welcomes India’s Vaccine Approval