Covishield's Health Risk Was Flagged Much Ahead of AstraZeneca Admission

New Delhi: The potential health risk of AstraZeneca Covid vaccine raised alarm worldwide as the pharmaceutical company admitted that its vaccine may lead to a rare side effect.

In India, the Oxford–AstraZeneca Covid vaccine was manufactured on the license of Serum Institute of India under the trade name Covishield. 

Last year, far ahead of the AstraZeneca admission, the Indian doctors said that Covishield jab was even "worse" in terms of cardiovascular effects, heart attacks and strokes. 

Well-known British-Indian Cardiologist Dr Aseem Malhotra, who was leading international calls for the suspension of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, also demanded a full safety review into the use of Covishield vaccine and said that it should never have been rolled out in the country in the first place.

Initially, he submitted the call to suspend mRNA vaccines like those manufactured by Pfizer and Moderna, considering their serious adverse effects related to the cardiovascular system.

'Covishield Far Worse Than mRNA Jab'

However, a comparison done up till June 2021, published in a peer-reviewed research paper, showed that AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine, sold on the trade name of Covishield in India, is even more worse than Pfizer's mRNA shot in terms of its adverse effects related to heart health. 

"We also have the pharmacovigilance data, which is post-marketing data, after the vaccine was approved and rolled out in the UK. We had 8,00,000 reports of adverse effects which were beyond mild after administering 9.7 million doses, almost 10 per cent," he said.

He even questioned the usage of AstraZeneca Covishield in India despte the same being suspended in UK and several European countries due to its adverse side-effects. 

"There needs to be immediate suspension pending inquiry as to why India got this so very very wrong."