Indian People did not want to be inoculated with a vaccine which they did not trust
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Indians were hesitant in getting vaccinated with Covaxin as it had no data to guarantee its efficacy and safety
Two months ago, vaccine rollouts began in India but on my side it did not have me excited for there was news that one vaccine, Covaxin that was approved for inoculation was done so without valuable data of its efficacy and possible side effects as its phase 3 human clinical trials were still underway.
Therefore, when phase 1 of the vaccine roll outs took place, with health care and frontline workers set to receive the jab, there was vaccine hesitancy, as most of them wanted to get administered with CovidShield vaccine and not Covaxin. However, they were given no choice in opting for the vaccine that was to be administered to them.
This uncertainty and doubt prevalent in the minds of medical representatives definitely did not give assurance to the common man on Covaxin’s trustworthiness.
People could trust CovidShield vaccine as data on its safety and efficacy was available
CovidShield on the other hand was derived from AstraZenica Covid-19 vaccine, which had some data from its final stage human trials establishing a decent level of efficacy(60%) although even that vaccine is under controversy from the news I have read. Even then, people were willing to take COvidShield, as some data from the clinical test results establishes that it is somewhat effective, with details on its side effects as well.
Covaxin vaccination hesitancy may subside now with India’s Prime Minister having taken a jab of it
However, now with India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi himself having received a jab of Covaxin, people’s vaccine hesitancy may be cleared to a big extent. On March1st, the second phase of vaccine rollout began here, with senior Citizens above 60, and people with co-mobilities above 45 years eligible were to get their vaccine shots.
As can be expected the PM had posted about his first vaccine jab on twitter which he took at All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMs) hospital at Delhi.
Other biggy politicians announcing that they received their Covaxin jab
Besides, the PM, another powerful politician of the country, Amit Shah received his first Covid-19 jab.
The Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has also received his shot of Covaxin.
So with the confirmed news of all these big important ministers now having been inoculated with Covaxin vaccine, Indians will not feel afraid of receiving a Covaxin vaccine shot, I guess.
Post the news of these high profile politicians having received their Covaxin jabs, another news came out just a day or two later that had the company behind Cavaxin, Bharat Biotech announcing its first interim results on its 3rd phase human trials. The results have for now established that Covaxin shows about 81% efficacy.
New announcement of the results from Covaxin’s final clinical trials
However, this is based on the outcome at present where 43 people out of 25,800 people in the trials were affected with Covid-19. Out of these 43, seven people received the Covaxin vaccine shot while the other 36 received a placebo. The outcome can vary when more number of people get affected by Covid-19 in the ongoing period of evaluation which is - 42 days to 1 year after a subject has received the second vaccine jab.
The data has not been put into the public domain yet and is yet to be peer reviewed.
More in depth details on this recent Covaxin vaccine’s efficacy news will be covered by me in another article.
Reference -: https://scroll.in/latest/988469/covaxin-showed-81-efficacy-in-third-phase-trials-says-bharat-biotech
Lot of people are looking forward for getting their inoculation shot
Meanwhile, already a lot of people, I hear are going to take their vaccination shot soon. From what I understand people have to register themselves in cowin.gov.in and get an appointment slot for their jab.
However, there were reports that the website was malfunctioning in the initial days, with people not able to register themselves.
The vaccine inoculation is free in Government hospitals while a cost of Rs 250 has to be paid for each vaccine shot in private hospitals.
I know that walk-ins have to be there for website log ins are feasible only for the well to do class, not the poor who don’t have internet connection. However, there will be ques and long waiting for the walk-ins I guess.