Picture of Covid-19 vaccine. Both Covishield and Covaxin were extensively tested before launching them in the market (Wikimedia Commons)
Testifying before the European Parliament’s Covid-19 committee on Monday, 10 October, Janine Small, the president of international development markets for Pfizer, said the company marketed the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine without knowing if it would prevent the viral transmission of the virus.
It was an admission that stirred up a hornet’s nest across the world.
Pfizer developed the vaccine jointly with BioNTech, a firm based in Mainz in Germany.
A video of Small’s testimony went viral and sparked concerns over Indian vaccines as well.
Among those who shared the video was Rob Roos, a Dutch Member of Parliament, who sought evidence from Pfizer for the efficacy of the vaccine.
Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, Co-Chairman of the National IMA Covid Task Force and former president of the Kochi chapter of the Indian Medical Association, explained why Indians need not worry about the vaccines available in the country. He further elaborated on what Pfizer could have done.
? BREAKING:
In COVID hearing, #Pfizer director admits: #vaccine was never tested on preventing transmission.
“Get vaccinated for others” was always a lie.
The only purpose of the #COVID passport: forcing people to get vaccinated.
The world needs to know. Share this video! ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/su1WqgB4dO
— Rob Roos MEP ?? (@Rob_Roos) October 11, 2022
Covid-19 vaccines were rolled out quickly with the primary objective of reducing infections and a secondary objective of preventing the severity of the disease in the infected.
The Pfizer-BioNTech trial results, available at the time of rollout, revealed that in the period immediately following vaccination, there was a lower chance of getting infected and there was a lower chance of the disease getting severe when compared to those who got a placebo.
“Specifically, to test for transmission, I do not believe that the original Pfizer trial was designed for it. It would definitely have taken longer to achieve the result and would have delayed the rollout and cost lives. Therefore, it is not a fair criticism of the trial,” Dr Jayadevan said.
The early mRNA vaccine trials, however, looked only for symptomatic patients and failed to check on asymptomatic disease.
“This could have been done without prolonging the study and would have given an idea about the limitations of these vaccines at an early stage. We know that the asymptomatic are more likely to mingle with others because they feel well, and thus transmit the virus. If checked, this could have been used as an indirect proxy for transmission,” he added.
Both the Indian vaccines were checked for efficacy against asymptomatic infection during clinical trials. This was the case for the two commonly used vaccines in India: AstraZeneca’s vaccine (marketed as Covishield in India by Serum Institute) and Covaxin (made by Bharat Biotech).
“Besides checking for symptomatic and severe cases, asymptomatic individuals were also tested during these trials,” Dr Jayadevan added.
Apr 29, 2024
Apr 29, 2024
Apr 29, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 27, 2024
Apr 26, 2024
