• Source:JND
Add as a preferred

Days after AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical company admitted that its Covid vaccine Covishield and Vaxzevria "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS," Bharat Biotech on Thursday said that Covaxin was developed with primarily focusing on the safety of the patients. According to several UK media reports, AstraZeneca has made the admission in court documents in connection with a case that alleges that the vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, caused death and serious injury in dozens of cases.

"As seasoned innovators and product developers, the Bharat Biotech team was well aware that, while the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines may be short-lived, the impact on patient safety could last a lifetime. Hence safety is the primary focus for all our vaccines," Bharat Biotech said in an official statement.

The company further mentioned that Covaxin was evaluated in more than 27,000 subjects as part of its licensure process. It was licensed under restricted use in clinical trial mode, where detailed safety reporting was carried out for several hundred thousand subjects.

The Indian Ministry of Health conducted an evaluation of the safety of Covaxin. Ongoing safety monitoring was maintained for the duration of Covaxin's product life cycle, it said.

"All the above studies and safety follow-up activities have demonstrated an excellent safety record for Covaxin without any vaccine-associated incidents of blood clots, Thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT, pericarditis, myocarditis, etc," the official statement added.

Image

Covishield Can Cause TTS

Recently, AstraZeneca, the pharmaceutical company that manufactured Covishield admitted that its Covid vaccine Covishield and Vaxzevria "can, in very rare cases, cause TTS." During the Covid pandemic, two vaccines were mainly administered in India including Covidshield and Covaxin.

Acknowledging that the COVID-19 vaccines have helped in preventing numerous deaths, Jayadevan, who is the Co-Chairman of the National Indian Medical Association (IMA) Covid Task Force in Kerala, stated that reports of such cases have also been highlighted in many reports.

ALSO READ: Schools Bomb Threat: Delhi Police Approaches NCB Moscow For Details On Suspect, Warns People Against Rumours | 10 Points

"TTS is thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, which is basically clot in blood vessels of the brain or elsewhere, along with a low platelet count. It is known to occur in very rare instances following certain types of vaccines and also from other causes. According to the WHO, adenovirus vector vaccines in particular have been rarely associated with this condition," he told ANI.

"Although COVID vaccines have prevented numerous deaths, reports of these extremely rare but potentially serious immune-mediated events have also been published in reputed journals," Dr Jayadevan added.

(With inputs from agency)