On Friday, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the COVID-19 vaccination drive would be extended in the coming days and asserted that there should not be any misconceptions about the two Indian vaccines being administered in the country.
During the Question Hour in Lok Sabha, Vardhan said India has vaccinated 3.5 to 4 crore people so far and side effects of the vaccines has been recorded at 0.000432 per cent.
Every vaccine doesn’t require universal immunization. All these priority groups we are vaccinating today, like healthcare staff first and then senior citizens and people aged between 45 and 59 years, will be extended in the coming days. All these are based on experts’ opinions.
Not only Indian experts, but we have also consulted WHO guidelines regarding priority groups he said. Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin have been currently approved for restricted emergency use in India.
Replying to NCP MP Supriya Sule’s question on whether the government aims to universal immunization of the COVID-19 vaccine, Vardhan said it is not scientifically necessary to administer the vaccine to every person in the country.
“Not each and every person in the world will be vaccinated. The prioritisation process is a dynamic process.
“The behaviour of the virus is also dynamic. All things are based on scientific facts, scrutiny and vision of the overall scientific and health community,” he said.
The minister said under India’s present universal immunization programme, free vaccines are provided against 12 vaccine-preventable diseases, including Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Polio, Measles, Rubella, severe form of Childhood Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and Meningitis, among others.
Replying to a question by Congress MP Ravneet Singh Bittu about the fear in people that the COVID-19 vaccine will harm them in the future, Vardhan asserted that taking vaccines is the way to get rid of vaccine-preventable diseases.
“We got victory over polio and chicken pox due to the vaccination,” he said.
There are detailed pre-clinical and clinical trials, which the experts thoroughly studied before a vaccine gets the nod, the minister said, adding that there should not be any misconception regarding the COVID-19 vaccines. The people should avail the facilities given by the government to get themselves vaccinated.
Vardhan further noted that there is a well-defined group of experts called the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration (NEGVAC)).
What you are seeing today is the people’s hard work in the ministry and this group, which the prime minister set up in August. Since then, they have been working closely regarding all scientific developments related to this- Vardhan said.
After examining these companies’ data, the minister also pointed out that the Subject Expert Committee has cleared two Indian vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin). He added that the World Health Organisation also examined data provided by two Indian companies.
In response to Thalassemia’s questions, Vardhan said that not a single thalassemia patient was deprived of blood during the COVID-19 pandemic and said blood is provided free of cost to these patients.
Thalassemia major and the severe form of Thalassemia Intermedia (TI) constitute the major disease burden, and both are commonly managed by regular lifelong blood transfusions and iron chelation.
These syndromes are caused by inheritance of abnormal (beta) thalassemia genes from both parents or abnormal beta-thalassemia gene from one parent and abnormal variant haemoglobin gene (HbE, HbD) from the other parent. The minister said in the last year, and the government has sanctioned 75 medical colleges.
He said a total of 30,000 Health and Wellness centers were opened under the Ayushman Bharat scheme last year during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Vardhan also said 24,000 new post-graduate medical seats had been created during the last six years.
