Queries on Covishield side effects reach docs after AstraZeneca report – The Times of India

KOLKATA: Worried Covid survivors in Kolkata have been calling up doctors and hospitals following pharmaceutical company AstraZenecas admission in a UK court earlier this week that its Covid-19 vaccine has the potential to cause thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS). The vaccine was administered in India under the name of Covishield. More than 175 crore doses of Covishield were administered across the country. A section of physicians doesnt rule out the possibility of some of their patients suffering or succumbing to TTS but added that there was no need to press the panic button now since the period for side effects to strike is long over. The time window for side effects of a vaccine is usually a month and that period is long over, pointed out cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar. While there is no need to worry about it now, we had a few patients suffering from side-effects during the initial stages of vaccine administration. I operated upon two who had suffered serious cardiac clots soon after taking the vaccine. While symptoms suggested it was a side-effect of Covishield, we have no test in India to confirm that. But the advantages of the vaccine far outweighed the side-effects, said Sarkar. AstraZenecas vaccine formula was licensed to the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for the production of Covishield. Sarkar rued that the Indian population was not made aware of the possibility of side effects. On the other hand, any vaccine is bound to have some side effects since it replicates the virus and its ill-effects. So, this vaccine, too, in some cases triggered thrombocytopenia or clots in the brain and elsewhere, explained Sarkar. A private hospital said they had received numerous calls from vaccine recipients over the last three days. We have spoken to our doctors and assured them that its too late for side effects now and that they were all safe, said a hospital spokesperson. We knew about the side effects and some did get them. A few are predisposed to such side effects but their number has been very few. Covishield recipients are worried but its too late for side effects, said AMRI infectious diseases physician Sayan Chakrabarty. A section of experts, however, pointed out that though its too late for thrombocytopenia or platelet count drop, clots in the brain may still occur as a long-term side effect of a vaccine. Covid vaccines like Covishield were prepared in a hurry and their long-term implications were not studied. We did receive several cases of thrombosis after the introduction of vaccines though it cant be concluded that they were triggered by Covishield since there was no clinical evidence. Cases of platelet drop were very rare though some patients did suffer from it, said Peerless Hospital microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury. Less than one in 1 lakh had TTS that can happen only within the first month of taking the vaccine and certainly not after years, said M S Purkait, medical superintendent, Techno India DAMA Hospital.

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Queries on Covishield side effects reach docs after AstraZeneca report - The Times of India