Concerns revolve around the suspension of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccines, judged defective by the World Health Organisation.
While vaccination is progressing, concerns revolve around those vaccinated with Covaxin. As of 2 April, the WHO has ordered the suspension of supplies of COVAXIN due to “deficiencies“. The order was given to UN supply agencies and user countries were advised to take appropriate action. In a statement issued on 2 April, WHO said that the suspension followed the results of a WHO inspection conducted from 14 to 22 March 2022, and the need to upgrade processes and facilities to address recently identified deficiencies in good manufacturing practice (GMP). “In the meantime, and as a precautionary measure, the company has indicated that it will suspend production of Covaxin for export. As a result, supply will be interrupted for the foreseeable future,” the WHO said. Bharat Biotech has committed to address the GMP deficiencies. This corrective and preventive action plan will be submitted to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) and the WHO.
To date, the risk assessment conducted to date does not indicate any change in the risk-benefit ratio. The data available to WHO indicate that the vaccine is effective and that there are no safety concerns. However, Mauritius is directly affected. Covaxin has been used in numerous vaccination campaigns where hundreds of thousands of Mauritians have been inoculated. Neither the Ministry of Health nor the Vaccination Committee has yet commented on the subject.
Why WHO suspended Covaxin, and how Bharat Biotech is responding
On Saturday, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that it has suspended the supply of Covaxin through UN procurement agencies and recommended to countries that received the vaccine to take actions as “appropriate”. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech on Sunday issued a clarification that there is “no impact on efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN” after the World Health Organisation suspended it from its Covax facility.
“For the millions who have received COVAXIN, the vaccine certificates issued still stand valid as there is no impact on efficacy and safety of the vaccine,” read the statement issued by Bharat Biotech on suspension from WHO.
The vaccine manufacturer has further said that the company is slowing down the production of Covaxin for facility optimization.
The 29 admissions were recorded in our 5 regional hospitals.
The trend remains downwards despite the slight increase as compared to the previous day. From 53 to 77 cases for this and from 22 to 29 admissions on this Tuesday 05 April.
The 29 admissions were recorded in our 5 regional hospitals. In Rodrigues, the total number of new positive cases is 17 out of 229 PCR tests performed. The tenth district also has one new hospitalization. The progress of the vaccination counted on Tuesday 05 April is 1,005, 467 people for the first dose and 32,188 in Rodrigues, 970,783 for the second dose and 31,990 in Rodrigues and 600,661 people for the booster dose and 12,963 in Rodrigues.
