What's behind the furore over the AstraZeneca vaccine | In Focus podcast
Covid-19 may not be raging any more, but a controversy over the AstraZeneca vaccine, sold as Covishield in India is. The issue first erupted when AstraZeneca, in a submission to a court in the UK, acknowledged that its vaccine could cause a rare, potentially life-threatening condition, known as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome or TTS. This led to everything from outrage on social media, to political parties issuing statements and to a host of misinformation being circulated. What is significant is that this information about TTS is not new \u2013 it was established as early as in 2021, when India\u2019s vaccination programme was underway, and it has been a known fact now for well over three years. Just a short time after the court submission made headlines, AstraZeneca also announced the worldwide withdrawal of its vaccine, citing a decline in the demand. As of this year, India has administered over 1.5 billion doses of Covishield to its eligible population.\xa0\nWhat led to the furore over the vaccine\u2019s rare side effect and what do we know about it? How robust is India\u2019s system to monitor adverse events arising from vaccinations? And what happens to India\u2019s vaccination programme if Covishield is no longer available \u2013 are there other options available for those who need them or for future immunisations?\xa0\n\nGuest: Dr Anurag Agrawal, Dean, BioSciences and Health Research, Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University\xa0\nHost: Zubeda Hamid\xa0\nEdited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.