The apprehensions in the minds of people about the trust towards Covidshield vaccine have reached up to level next especially after the use of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine was reportedly withdrawn worldwide, months after the pharmaceutical company admitted for the first time in court documents that it can cause a rare side effect.
It is pertinent to mention that in India and other low-and-middle-income countries, it was manufactured and supplied under the name ‘Covishield' by Serum Institute of India (SII) through a licence from the aforesaid university and the Swedish-British drugmaker—AstraZeneca. Reportedly, the drug firm has claimed that the vaccine was being removed from markets for commercial reasons and the jab was no longer being manufactured or supplied, after being superseded by updated vaccines which have the capability to tackle new variants.
AstraZeneca came under intense scrutiny in recent months over a very rare side effect, which causes blood clots and low blood platelet counts. The company admitted that the vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS, which stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome. As the company has claimed that the decision of withdrawal was purely coincidence and not linked to the Court case or its admission that it can cause TTS, it is not advisable to question the company's stand as the harm has already been done in the cases of side effects.
As India has an excellent track record in pharmaceuticals and medical sciences with its scientists carrying out research and development in various fields of healthcare, the government should take this as a challenge and ask its elite brigade of medical scientists to come up with the research to identify the patients affected by the side effects of the aforesaid placebo and invent medicines to reverse the bad effects, as in this case there is no hurry as pandemic is already over.
The Indian scientists have another opportunity to make blessing in disguise a reality again as advised by none other than the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create opportunities during difficult times, because if the Indian brains will come up an exclusive test to identify the vaccine affected people, and the cure, several avenues shall be opened ensuring number of bounties in favour of the country apart from monetary gains.
No doubt, this should have to be started from the beginning but the possibility of success is bright and the concerned lot should not miss the chance.
