C'garh govt says won't use Covaxin till phase 3 trial is over

Chhattisgarh health ministerT S Singh Deo has said that the state government will not usethe indigenously developed Covaxin vaccine against coronavirusuntil its final phase of trials is completed.

He had written a letter to Union Health Minister HarshVardhan, requesting not to send Bharat Biotech's Covaxin tillall trials are over, the minister said on Wednesday.

The Union government has allowed the use of Covishieldvaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca andCovaxin developed Bharat Biotech for the COVID-19 inoculationprogram in the country.

Singh Deo said Phase-3 trial of Covaxin is notcomplete, and consent forms sent with Covaxin doses, to befilled by the person administering it, underline this fact.

The government can not be expected to complete a trialwhich the company is supposed to do, he said, adding thatthe vaccine would be used in Chhattisgarh once the final phaseof trials is completed successfully.

As per state officials, 66 per cent of 2.74 lakhhealth workers selected for the first phase of inoculationhave received the jab so far.

Chhattisgarh had received about 5.55 lakh doses ofCovishield and over 70,000 doses of Covaxin, but the stategovernment had not given its consent to use Covaxin, officialssaid.

Opposition BJP, meanwhile, accused the Congressgovernment in the state of adopting a stubborn approach overthe use of Covaxin.

Party spokesperson and former minister AjayChandrakar said the state government and Singh Deo weretrying to get political mileage over Covaxin when it is indemand and being used globally.

The Union government allowed the use of Covaxinfollowing all necessary tests, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)