India to review setbacks of Covishield vaccine

NEW DELHI:  With at least 10 countries suspending the use of the Covid-19 vaccine by Astra- Zeneca-Oxford University amid concerns that it may be potentially causing dangerous blood clots in some recipients, India, too, has decided to review the hospitalisations and deaths in people who took Covishield, this newspaper has learnt.

The vaccine is being manufactured and marketed by the Serum Institute of India. Countries like Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Luxemburg have withdrawn the use of one batch of Astrazeneca vaccine, while others including Denmark have suspended the use of all its supply for two weeks, pending investigations. As per reports, at least 22 recipients of AstraZeneca had developed coagulation disorde r s and pulmona r y embolism in various European countries.

However, the World Health Organization on Friday said there was no reason to stop using AstraZeneca’s vaccine. Its vaccines advisory committee was looking at safety data and WHO stressed that no link had been established between the vaccine and clotting. Senior authorities in the Union health ministry and national committee on Adverse Event Following Immunisation said the development is assessed in India’s context.

“We have not found any thing of concern with respect to administration of Covishield so far but we will look at all hospitalisations and deaths closely again in the light of the new information,” Narendra Arora, advisor to the AEFI committee, told this newspaper. Officials say the exercise, whose results will be shared in a day or two, will involve determining whether there has been any increase in blood clot formation in vaccinated people as compared to the population in the same age group.

“If that is the case, then there would be further investigations to assess whether the coagulations are a result of the vaccine,” another official said. Of nearly 2.63 crore vaccinations in India, over 90% of doses has comprised of Covishield. The Centre has insisted none of the deaths, reported in people who died within a few days of taking the shot, have been found to have a link with vaccine, but the national panel is yet to complete its assessment.