Telangana to continue with Covishield

Hyderabad: Use of Covishield in Telangana will continue till the Centre takes a decision. Director Public Health and Family Welfare G Srinavas Rao said that there has been no complaint about the vaccine which was developed by the Serum Institute of India in collaboration with AstraZeneca of UK.

About 12 European countries paused use of Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine as a precaution after isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots.

Srinivasa Rao told The Hans India that the vaccine has been duly approved by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), and the World Health Organization has given clean chit to the vaccine. Thousands of health workers from government and private sector had taken their jab and the vaccination for common people started on March 1.

Almost 7, 27,000 people got vaccinated in Telangana State, but no single complaint of side effects was received.

It may be mentioned here that during the first phase of vaccination only Covishield was used. "We are continuing the Covishield in the State and so far there are no instructions from the ICMR or any other authority to suspend its usage," said Rao.

Some hospitals in the State are using both Covishield and Covaxin. In districts the hospitals are using Covishield if the number of people at any given point of time are less than 10 since this vaccine comes in packs of 10 vials.

If the number of people is more than 10 then Covaxin is administered as it comes in a pack of 20 vials. This helps in avoiding wastage and storage also become easy, a source said. In Hyderabad, while some corporate hospitals are giving a choice between Covaxin and Covishield, some are administering only Covishield.