ICMR’s Indignation at BHU Study on Covaxin Safety Was Misplaced
K. S. Parthasarathy | 31 October 2024 | The News Minute
Controversy followed close on the heels of a recent study on the long-term safety of Covaxin, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR-NIV. The paper authored by researchers Upinder Kaur, Aakansha Jaiswal, Ayushi Jaiswal, Sankha Shubhra Chakrabarti, and others from the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was published in Drug Safety, the official journal of the International Society of Pharmacovigilance. However, ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) demanded its retraction as it was a ‘poorly designed study’. This garnered media attention, prompting editor Nitin Joshi to oblige, thereby setting a bad precedent and letting down the community of scientists.
The study on Covaxin included a one year follow up on vaccinated individuals to collect data on Adverse Events of Special Interest (AESI). Researchers found that of the 926 respondents…