The first day of administration of Covaxin, a home-grown vaccine against Covid, in the city had a mixed response — no one took the jab at one site, a little over half the targeted number took the shots at a second site and the third crossed the target.
Unlike Covishield, the other Covid vaccine granted emergency approval in India, Covaxin is still undergoing phase III trial and its efficacy data is pending.
At the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, no one could be administered a Covaxin dose, a health department official said. The hospital had sent an open invitation to all its employees who are yet to be vaccinated against Covid to get a Covaxin shot.
Only six persons turned up. The administration decided against inoculating them as it would have meant wasting 14 doses of the vaccine.
Each vial of Covaxin, developed by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharat Biotech, has 20 doses. The doses that remain unused after a vial is opened go to waste.
“We had spread the information through WhatsApp groups and other means. If a considerable number of people turned up, we would have inoculated them,” said an official.
At SSKM Hospital, 13 health workers took Covaxin doses, against a target of 20 set by the health department for each of the sites chosen for the administration of the indigenous vaccine.
An SSKM official said they, too, had sent an open invitation for Covaxin shots.
At both SSKM and Calcutta Medical College, there were no dearth of takers for Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. About 400 health workers took Covishield shots at SSKM and 202 at Calcutta Medical College.
At the third Covaxin site in Calcutta, RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, 35 health workers were vaccinated, 15 more than the target set by the government.
“I, along with a few other senior doctors, was the first to take Covaxin. We did this to allay fears in people’s minds about the safety of the vaccine. Later, so many students and healthcare workers took the jabs without hesitation,” said Jyotirmoy Pal, a professor at RG Kar. “We had repeatedly held talks with our health workers to address their doubts.”
At SSKM, the state’s director of medical education, Debasis Bhattacharyya, was among the first recipients of Covaxin. “I took the vaccine at 10.22am. I am speaking to you at 9pm. I have attended several meetings during the day. I felt no discomfort. It’s clear that Covaxin is safe and people should not hesitate to take the vaccine,” he told The Telegraph.
Recipients of Covaxin have to sign a consent form before they are administered the vaccine, which is not required to get a Covishield dose.
The consent form mentions that the recipient has read the Covaxin information sheet or been told about the content and has understood the “benefits and risks of the vaccination”. It also says the recipient will be “entitled to medical management and compensation for serious adverse events related to the administration of this vaccine”.
But the consent form does not mention that the data on the efficacy of the vaccine is still pending. An immunologist said efficacy data would show whether the vaccine was giving protection against Covid-19 for a considerable period of time.
More vaccines
The number of Covid vaccination sites will go up from a little over 200 to around 350 across Bengal next week following the arrival of fresh consignments of both vaccines, officials said. Nearly four lakh doses of Covaxin reached Calcutta on Wednesday. Around 2.9 lakh doses of Covishield reached Calcutta late on Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Kinsuk Basu
