THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the day the country’s drug regulator gave emergency approval for using two vaccines for coronavirus — Oxford Institute’s Covishield, developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — Shashi Tharoor, MP, and Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan locked horns over the emergency use of the vaccines.
In a tweet, Tharoor said, “The Covaxin has not yet had phase 3 trials. Approval was premature and could be dangerous. @drharshvardhan should please clarify. Its use should be avoided till full trials are over. India can start with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the meantime.”
In reply to his tweet, Muraleedharan said the MP should not interrupt the implementing procedure of the vaccine which is expected to benefit lakhs of people whose lives have been affected due to the pandemic, for the reason that he is a Congress member.
The permission was given after supervision and experiments of experts in the health sector.
The MP should at least support the good works done by the Prime Minister, he said.