NEW DELHI (AP) – Bharat Biotech, a developer of vaccines against coronaviruses grown in India, has warned people with weak immunity and other medical conditions, including allergies, fever or bleeding, to consult a doctor before taking the injection – and if avoid the vaccine.
The company said that those receiving the vaccines should disclose their medical condition, medications they are taking and any history of allergies. According to the report, severe allergic reactions among those receiving the vaccine may include difficulty breathing, swelling of the face and throat, tachycardia, rashes on the body, dizziness and weakness.
The vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech was controversial after the Indian government allowed its use without concrete data showing its effectiveness in preventing COVID-19. Tens of thousands of people received the injection in the past three days, after India started inoculating health workers last weekend, in what is probably the largest coronavirus vaccination campaign in the world.
India vaccinated 148,266 people on Monday, totaling 381,305, the health ministry said.
Indian authorities hope to give vaccines to 300 million people. Beneficiaries are expected to include 30 million doctors, nurses and other frontline workers, to be followed by 270 million people over 50 or with illnesses that make them vulnerable to COVID-19.
On January 4, India approved the emergency use of two vaccines, one developed by the University of Oxford and the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, based in the United Kingdom, and the other by Bharat Biotech. The regulator took the step without publishing information on the effectiveness of the Indian vaccine.
Bharat Biotech has not yet published data on the vaccine’s effectiveness, but said it is complying with clinical trial guidelines.
The regulator says the vaccine is safe and has given its approval, believing it could be more effective in combating a new variant of the coronavirus found in the UK. The regulator and the company said the efficacy data will be published after the completion of ongoing clinical trials in progress.
Most hospitals in India are inoculating healthcare professionals with the AstraZeneca vaccine. But attendance, particularly in hospitals using the Bharat Biotech vaccine, has been relatively low, health officials said.
Hospitals in New Delhi that administered the Bharat Biotech vaccine have seen many doctors hesitate to get the vaccine.
Dr. Vinod K. Paul, a member of NITI Aayog, a government study group, said that concerns about the vaccine’s adverse effects appeared “unfounded and insignificant”.
“If our healthcare professionals, especially doctors and nurses, are refusing, then it is very unfortunate,” Paul told reporters. “Healthcare professionals must have faith in our system.”
The vaccination campaign began at a time when coronavirus infections fell dramatically and much of life was back to normal.
India is second only to the United States in number of confirmed cases, with more than 10.5 million. The country ranks third in number of reported deaths, behind the United States and Brazil, with more than 152,000.