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COVAXIN to help you tide the global pandemic

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Published on March 8, 2021 | Est Read Time: 3 min

The last few months have been a race to find a vaccine to help tame the raging global pandemic caused by the coronavirus. Many medical research firms in India and abroad have been working to find an effective vaccine. Indian firm Bharat Biotech has led the domestic R&D efforts working jointly with National Institute of Virology as well as Indian Council of Medical Research. The company has produced COVAXIN after months of painstaking research and clinical trials.

Development of COVAXIN

Bharat Biotech has its own Bio Safety Level 3 facilities in which they have developed this medicine. The facility is a high containment type and one of the very few such facilities active in India. Covaxin has been developed using an advanced platform technology known as Whole-Virion Inactivated Viro Cell. In the simplest terms, the vaccine is made of dead virus copies that can not replicate itself. These vaccines cannot cause any pathological effects on the person who is vaccinated.

The introduction of the dead virus samples in the human body through the vaccine does lead to a condition where our immune system gets activated to find and expunge the unwelcome entrants in the body. This means that while the virus being dead can not do any damage, the immune systems still gets into action and learns how to deal with the coronavirus if it ever attacks our body again.

Eligibility to get COVAXIN

People who are over 18 years of age and do not match any of the following exceptions are eligible for taking Covaxin.

1. People who have already received any other vaccine for Covid 19
2. Women who are pregnant or are breastfeeding
3. People who are taking blood thinners or suffer from any bleeding disorder
4. People who have fever or allergies of any kind
5. People whose immune system is compromised because of any reason
6. People who are taking any medicine that impacts their immune system in any manner

Further, the people who are on regular medication for any ailment or disease should inform their medical officer in advance to discuss and determine their eligibility for Covaxin.

Known risks and side effects of COVAXIN

As per Bharat Biotech, a few people have reported some side effects for Covaxin, including:

1. Pain, swelling, redness, or itching in the place where the injection was administered
2. Weakness or stiffness in the arm where the injection was administered
3. A few cases of headache or body ache
4. Some people experience weakness, nausea or vomiting
5. Fever and malaise have also been reported

For the people who experience any side effect, the manufacturer recommends that the person should immediately contact the medical officer-in-charge of vaccination at the facility where it was administered.

The vaccine has already been administered to frontline workers like medicals staff, government personnel, including the Prime Minister, upon opening up of their age-based eligibility from March 01, 2021. Further, the vaccine has also been exported to many friendly countries like Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Burma, Mauritius Oman, Bahrain, and Philippines.

Disclaimer: The above information is for illustrative purpose only. For more details, please refer to policy wordings and prospectus before concluding the sales.

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