The DCGI has approved emergency use authorisation to Covaxin, the coronavirus vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech.
Amid questions over emergency approval to Covaxin, Bharat Biotech, the Indian pharma company which has developed in the COVID-19 vaccine, on Monday described the controversy as uncalled for. Several Opposition parties, including the Congress, have questioned the credibility of Bharat Biotech and the move to grant emergency use authorisation to Covaxin.
Speaking during a virtual press conference, Bharat Biotech MD Krishna Ella sought to clear all doubts over the much awaited vaccine against coronavirus and asserted that he has no political connections.
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"Now that vaccine is being politicised, I want to state very clearly that none of my family members is associated with any political party," he said.
"Many people say that I am not transparent in my data. I think people should have patience to read on the internet and how many articles we have published. More than 70 articles have been published in various international journals," Ella said referring to questions being raised over the data of clinical trials of the vaccine.
Describing Covaxin as one of the safest coronavirus vaccines of the present lot, he said that there were very few cases of adverse reactions during the trial.
"Covaxin has shown less than 10 % adverse reactions, while others have 60-70% adverse reactions.AstraZeneca was giving 4g paracetamol to volunteers to suppress such reactions. We haven’t given paracetamol to any volunteer. I can assure our vaccine is a 200 % safe," he said.
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"We are not just conducting clinical trials in India. We have done clinical trials more than 12 countries including UK. We are doing clinical trials in Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries. We are not just an Indian company, we are truly a global company," he said.
Underlining that his company has vast experience in the field, Bharat Biotech MD said that Indian companies are being portrayed in a wrong way infront of the world.
"We are not a company without experience in vaccines. We have tremendous experience in vaccines. We are touching 123 countries. We are the only company that has got such extensive experience and extensive publication in review journals," Krishna Ella said.
"Many people are gossiping everything in different directions to just backlash on Indian companies. That is not right for us, we don't deserve that," he added.
