A homegrown coronavirus vaccine will be rolled out in India from Saturday even though clinical trials haven’t been completed. But the government insists it will be safe and effective.
But it also gave “emergency approval” to Covaxin, developed in India by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research, even though phase 3 human trials were yet to be completed. “I would guess that the Bharat Biotech vaccine, after it has been evaluated, may be the best, the cheapest and the most practical for developing countries,” he told AFP.The main opposition Congress party accused the government of putting lives at risk. The health minister of one state, Chhattisgarh, has said the Bharat vaccine is “not safe” to deploy.
It has delivered over three billion vaccines for diseases worldwide including Zika and Japanese Encephalitis and an ultra-cheap shot for Hepatitis B.But activists have accused the firm of cutting corners and breaching rules in conducting trials in India. But 10 participants AFP spoke with, several of whom are illiterate, said they had not been properly informed.
Illiterate wage labourer Mannsingh Parihar, 70, said he and four others were driven to the hospital on December 21 and given the injection.Similar allegations are echoed by other participants interviewed by Indian media and by activists.
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