The launch of India’s COVID vaccination programme will be remembered not only for its mega scale, but also for factors that created mental hurdles for recipients from the healthcare sector, especially the doctors. A software glitch forced the Maharashtra government to suspend the drive till Monday. The engineers can take care of the connectivity issues, but concerns remain about the efforts that should go into dispelling doubts over the ingenious Covaxin’s efficacy, because they are raised by none other than the medical professionals selected for the vaccination. Reports coming from Nagpur’s Government Medical College say that several doctors refused to take the Covaxin instead of Covishield, a widely circulated vaccine. In Mumbai’s state-run JJ Hospital, only 39 of 100 listed people turned up for Covaxin, apparently because they didn’t want a vaccine that has run into a controversy over its ‘still-under-trial’ status. Speaking officially, the authorities concerned said the last-minute calls and weekend engagements kept most beneficiaries away. They hope to increase the numbers as the drive progresses further. However, the murmurs of Covaxin vs Covishield didn’t stop on Saturday but became an open talk later in the day when the Covaxin producers announced compensation for affected beneficiaries. In Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, the resident doctors demanded that they be administered Covishield and not Covaxin.

Doubts about Covaxin
Certainly, this isn’t an encouraging beginning to the world’s largest vaccination drive which will inject 3 crore healthcare and frontline workers by the end of its first phase. Another 27 crore — comorbid people and senior citizens - are on the vaccination list. Prime Minister Narendra Modi did his bit in delivering assurance over the Indian vaccine developers’ ‘international’ credibility. He said that life-saving vaccines given to 60% children globally are made in India. The Congress party leaders have questioned the Centre over the approval for Covaxin. Social activist Saket S Gokhale moved the Bombay High Court against the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), urging that the safety and efficacy trial results of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin be made public. He said in the interest of millions of people in India the data should not be kept secret.