The Union Health Ministry on Thursday said it would continue with the Covishield vaccine, same as the AstraZeneca vaccine, as it had not encountered any blood clot issue even after inoculating lakhs of senior citizens with it.
“We have so far not seen blood clots in elderly population subsequent to administration of Covishield vaccine to them in India,” Health Ministry sources told DH when asked about the Centre’s plan in the wake of temporary halts imposed on the AstraZeneca vaccines by a few European nations.
Denmark was the first to announce its suspension, "following reports of serious cases of blood clots" among people who had received the vaccine, the country's Health Authority said in a statement. Norway and Iceland followed suit.
The Danish health authority, however, made it clear that they were putting a brake on the AstraZeneca vaccine as a matter of abundant precaution as no links have been established between the shots and the blood clots.
India has administered nearly 2.6 crore doses of the two Covid-19 vaccines including one dose to nearly 60 lakh senior citizens. Most of these shots are Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India.