Vaccination in India: specialists recommend caution with Covaxin
In India, the vaccination campaign against Covid-19 began on Saturday January 16.
REUTERS - AMIT DAVE
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
As this “Made in India” vaccine begins to be distributed to millions of Indians, experts are worried because clinical studies are not complete.
India is already planning to export millions of doses to several countries.
Publicity
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With our correspondent in Bangalore
,
Côme Bastin
India has its vaccine, developed and produced on its soil.
But at what cost ?
Since Saturday, the Covaxin vaccine from the Bharat Biotech laboratory has been administered to Indian healthcare workers as well as to municipal employees, alongside
AstraZeneca's
Covishield vaccine
.
► Read also: India launches its gigantic vaccination campaign
But data is lacking on the efficacy and safety of Covaxin, for which emergency authorization has been granted by the Indian authorities.
Anant Bhan is a researcher in medical ethics.
“
Data from phase 3 clinical studies are still not available and will probably not be until March,” he
explains
.
It does not seem rational to distribute this vaccine in a hurry.
In India the number of daily cases is declining, the death rate is very low
.
"
Questionable studies
Another sticking point according to the researcher, the studies in progress would take place under questionable conditions.
Particularly in the region of Bhopal, where several NGOs report tests carried out without real consent on poor populations.
“
Studies conducted in this way could compromise the reliability of the vaccine data.
Light will have to be shed.
Even if the results are not affected, the tests must be carried out according to the rules of medical ethics
”, continues Anant Bhan.
On Monday, Bharat Biotech released a list of people who should avoid using Covaxin, increasing mistrust of the vaccine.
The government is nevertheless preparing to ship 2.5 million doses free of charge to Mongolia, Oman, Burma and the Philippines.
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