New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS) Congress leader Manish Tewari has questioned the government’s hurry in giving a nod to Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine without phase-3 trials. The reaction from Tewari comes a day after another Congress leader Shashi Tharoor had raised questions over approval to ‘Covaxin’.
Tewari said “The union government has misused the pandemic politically and the controversy over vaccines is the latest, when the vaccine has a question mark over reliability who will get himself vaccinated?”
The Congress leader alleged that the BJP government has done great disservice to the company, in their quest to prove their ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ policy they have licenced a vaccine whose phase-3 trials are not complete.
Tharoor had on Monday criticised the government for giving the nod to Bharat Biotech’s ‘Covaxin’ vaccine without phase-3 trials.
Tharoor had said, “This is all we are saying. Of course, we will be proud if the vaccine turns out to work effectively. But offering it before phase-3 clinical trials have proven its efficacy is a violation of every scientific protocol and unheard of in the world. Jingoism is no substitute for common sense.”
The central licensing authority has granted permission to Bharat Biotech to manufacture ‘Covaxin’ for sale and distribution, after the indigenous coronavirus vaccine received regulatory approval for emergency use.
While Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella said on Monday that the company does not deserve the backlash it is receiving in the light of India’s drugs regulator granting approval for emergency use of Covaxin.
“Don’t accuse us of inexperience. We are a global company… have manufactured 16 vaccines,” he said, highlighting that “200 per cent honest” clinical trials were conducted.
Ella said the company conducts clinical trials not only in India but also many other countries.
His comments assume significance as Covaxin has been given an emergency approval despite allegedly only two of the required three trial phases being completed.
However, Ella pointed to the number of journal articles Bharat Biotech published and claimed that it was the first to identify Zika virus and file a patent for Zika and Chikungunya viruses.
Bharat Biotech was the only company to have a Bio Safety Level 3 (BSL-3) production facility, he noted.
–IANS
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