Union Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan wrote to the Chattishgarh government saying that both Covaxin and Covishield provided by Serum Institute “are safe and immunogenic.”
The Minister also said that it “should be used expeditiously” to “rapidly confer protection to prioritised beneficiaries.” The letter was because the Chattisgarh government expressed apprehension regarding the Covaxin stating the “unavailability of phase 3 data and also lack of expiry date on the vial.” Dr. Harsh Vardhan addressed the unavailability of expiry dates in the letter and said that it is unfounded.
He also pointed out that the vaccines are available in the state and 69.87% of healthcare workers have already been covered by the vaccine. “Both these vaccines being supplied to the state are safe and immunogenic and should be used expeditiously to rapidly confer protection to prioritised beneficiaries thereby mitigation the impact of the pandemic at the earliest”, he wrote in the letter.
