Chandigarh: Amid the debate over alleged side effects of Covishield vaccine after AstraZeneca admitted in court that there could be some rare cases, rumours have begun doing the rounds leaving people panic-stricken.
In a special conversation with ETV Bharat, Dr Madhu Gupta of PGI, Chandigarh gave a detailed explanation on the side effects of the vaccine.
Dr. Madhu Gupta, Professor of School and Public Health, PGI, Chandigarh said that the effect of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) can be seen 21-40 days after the administration of Covishield vaccine.
Dr Gupta of the Department of Community Medicine, who was the head of the Covishield trial of PGI, said this report was published two years ago. Those who have been vaccinated no longer need to worry, she said adding that keeping the potential risk in mind, the Government of India had issued an advisory in 2021. In the advisory it was stated that those who have already been infected with the virus should not take this vaccine, she said.
"The advisory was specifically issued in view of this rare effect. It was said that no second dose should be given to a person showing symptoms of the virus. At the same time, data from Serum Institute of India shows that out of 7 crore vaccinations, only one percent of the side effects are such that it can cause a problem called TTS," she said.
She assured that three human trials were conducted on Covishield involving 17 centres across the country. In which, PGI was also included. During that time, 250 participants had participated in PGI to take this vaccine. But none of them got to see TTS. Nearly 1600 people across the country were involved in the human trial and nobody has confirmed to have any side effects, she added.
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