BENGALURU: Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Tuesday came out in support of Bharat Biotech and urged people to refrain from "unwarranted criticism which discredits the hard work of our scientists".
In a series of tweets, the minister supported the pharma company, which has been at the centre of a controversy after the Subject Expert Committee approved its Covaxin for emergency use even as Phase 3 trials that test the vaccine's efficacy are still underway.
"Being one of the largest exporters of vaccines, the world is looking up to us in the common fight against this global pandemic. Bharat Biotech is a reputed company which has the credibility and experience of developing 16 vaccines including for influenza H1N1, Rotavirus, Japanese Encephalitis, Rabies, Chikungunya, Zika and the world's first tetanus-toxoid conjugated vaccine for Typhoid," Dr Sudhakar tweeted.
He said Bharat Biotech's founder-chairman Dr Krishna Ella is a passionate professional with a credibility of delivering over 4 billion vaccine doses to underprivileged people in more than 150 developing countries through UNICEF and other channels.
"Covaxin's phase-3 clinical trial involves 24,000 volunteers & its data will be available soon. I humbly appeal to everyone, not as a Health Minister but as a fellow medical professional, to refrain from unwarranted criticism which discredits the hard work of our scientists," he tweeted, adding that India is at the forefront of scientific innovation to combat the pandemic. Meanwhile, Sudhakar said that one more person in Karnataka has tested positive for the UK strain of SARS-CoV-2, taking the total number to 11. However, 121 people are still untraceable.