We have nothing to do with it… ICMR called the research related to side effects of Covaxin misleading

New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has described the study published in a foreign journal on the side effects of Covaxin as misleading and based on wrong facts. ICMR has expressed strong objection to the research paper of two professors of the Institute of Medical Sciences of Banaras Hindu University (BHU). It is said that ICMR has nothing to do with it. In fact, these researchers had claimed in a study conducted between January 2022 and August 2023 that about 50% of the 926 participants complained of infection. The rare risk of stroke and Guillain-Barré syndrome has increased. ICMR Director General Dr. Rajiv Bahl has written a letter to the authors doing research at BHU and the editor of the New Zealand-based Drug Safety Journal. The letter said the recently published Covaxin side effects study should be withdrawn as ICMR has been named ‘incorrectly and misleadingly’ in the paper. It was written in the letter that ICMR is not associated with this study. No financial or technical support was provided for the research. ICMR cannot be linked to this poorly conducted study, which aims to misrepresent the ‘safety analysis’ of Covaxin. He also sought clarification from the authors as to why ICMR should not take legal and administrative action against them.

Answers were sought from both the professors

ICMR has said that the participants were contacted by telephone for this study conducted one year after vaccination. Their responses were recorded without confirmation by medical tests. The DG also highlighted the poor methodology and design of the study. Clarification has been sought from both the professors involved in the study. ICMR DG Dr. Rajiv Bahl wrote in the letter that even though ICMR is not included in this study, still the organization has been mentioned. There are many flaws in this study regarding safety analysis.