The Aryavarth Express
Agency (New Delhi): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday accused the BJP of endangering the lives of Indians after UK-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca began the global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was marketed in India as Covishield in partnership with the Serum Institute of India (SII).
Yadav’s criticism follows AstraZeneca’s recent admission that its COVID-19 vaccines could, in very rare instances, cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a rare side effect. AstraZeneca cited an excess supply of updated vaccines as the reason for the withdrawal.
In a post on social media platform X, Yadav expressed public concern, stating, “The company that makes the corona vaccine is withdrawing its deadly vaccine from the market on the pretext of excess supply. The angry public is asking the BJP government how this dangerous vaccine will be removed from the bodies of those who have taken it?”
Yadav further accused the BJP of prioritizing financial gain over public safety, saying, “In the greed for crores of donations, BJP has put crores of lives in danger. BJP has become a ‘jan-drohi’ (anti-people) party by putting the lives of its own countrymen at risk.”
SII, which partnered with AstraZeneca to produce Covishield, announced that it had ceased manufacturing and supplying additional doses of Covishield since December 2021. The institute reiterated that it had disclosed all rare to very rare side effects, including TTS, in the vaccine’s packaging insert in 2021.