The Pfizer vaccine has allegedly not been able to stop the spread and transmission of Covid-19.
NEW DELHI: Several individuals with vested interests and opposition parties of India, including the Congress, wanted to derail India’s indigenously manufactured vaccine while promoting the foreign made Pfizer or for that matter, the Moderna vaccine, against Covid-19, that have now been embroiled in controversy regarding their efficacy and alleged involvement in the increasing heart attacks among the younger population, especially in the Western world.
The Pfizer vaccine which was administered in most of the Western world countries like USA, UK and many parts of Europe, has come under fire for allegedly not being able to stop the spread and transmission of Covid-19. Pfizer is also blamed by many for the blood clots and rising heart attacks and strokes across the globe.
The Pfizer vaccine was one of the first vaccines to be approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) under emergency clause in December 2020, just 10 months after the world was hit with the Covid-19 pandemic, a once in a century event that had brought the world to a standstill. However, its approval was marred with controversy with officials at the White House reportedly threatening the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of sacking its chief for the alleged hurried approval of the vaccine.
Soon after its approval from the World Health Organisation (WHO), a section of Indian “influencers”, journalists and even opposition parties, including the Congress and its former chief Rahul Gandhi, started to promote the use of Pfizer in India and raised questions about the Indian manufactured Covaxin.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, “journalist” Rohini Singh, Radio Jockey Sayema, writers like Chetan Bhagat, among others, had launched a campaign which sought to undermine the efforts of Indian scientists to develop a vaccine of their own. Reports also suggest that several such like-minded personalities also did not turn any stone unturned to criticise and raise doubts over the Indian made Covaxin.
Even leaders like Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party who is also a former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh had openly called for the boycott of the Indian vaccine, creating panic among the Indian population.
On the contrary, these big leaders from the opposition parties were pushing for the use of foreign manufactured Pfizer and Moderna vaccines against Covid-19, allegedly part of an international “Pfizer lobby” which wanted to promote it’s vaccine across the globe.
A Congress leader in November 2020 had tweeted asking the Indian government to approve the use of Pfizer in India. His tweet asking for Pfizer to be brought into India was followed by a lot of influential people in India, some of whom have been named above.
On the international front, the Pfizer lobby has been accused of strong-arming several governments into granting emergency approval for the use of the vaccine. The Indian government was also not spared from these efforts.
However, almost two years down the line, India manufactured Covaxin and the Serum Institute of India manufactured Covisheild have proven to be effective vaccines against Covid-19 and have helped India surpass the dangerous Coronavirus infection. The Indian government and scientific body also stood steadfast in rejecting pressure from the global pharma lobby to bypass stringent health standards and ensure the safety and quality of the vaccines. India is one of the leading countries where more than 2 billion people have voluntarily been vaccinated in an equitable manner.
Almost 90% of the Indian population have been vaccinated with either of these two vaccines and India have so far evaded any escalation with regards to the Covid-19 virus, unlike what is being witnessed in China with the recent outbreak of the Omicron sub-variant in that country.
India has also successfully sailed through the Omincron variant of the Covid-19 that had hit the country just a year back with almost negligible hospitalisation, proving that the Indian vaccines have been more effective against Covid-19 which has been successful in bringing down mortality and hospitalisation.
On the contrary, the Pfizer vaccine which was being advocated for by a certain lobby has embroiled itself in controversy with regards to its efficacy and its alleged relation with increasing heart attacks and strokes.
However, the Centre for Diseases Control (CDC) of the USA earlier this month said that there has been no study so far to prove any relation with the vaccine and the increasing heart attacks. Pfizer and BioNTech spokesperson have also told an international news organisation earlier this month that they have been made aware of limited reports of ischemic stroke that have been observed in the CDC Vaccine Safety DataLink (VSD) database in people 65 and older following vaccination with the Omicron BA.4/BA.5-adapted bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine by Pfizer and BioNTech.”
“Neither Pfizer and BioNTech nor the CDC or the U.S. (FDA) have observed similar findings across numerous other monitoring systems in the U.S. and globally and there is no evidence to conclude that ischemic stroke is associated with the use of the company’s vaccine against Covid 19,” the Pfizer spokesperson continued.
The CEO of the company avoided questions on the vaccine’s efficacy when questioned at the World Economic Forum at Davos. Additionally, instances of people losing their lives after receiving the Pfizer vaccine have been reported.