50 employees of Bharat Biotech test COVID-19 positive; Joint MD's tweet sparks concern

Hyderabad: A tweet from Covaxin maker Bharat Biotech's Joint Managing Director Suchitra Ella saying 50 of their employees have tested COVID positive has evoked a mixed response from netizens with some questioning the effectiveness of its anti-COVID vaccine and while others wondering why the staff members were not vaccinated.

Referring to comments by some political leaders over COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin supply issues, Ella had on Wednesday tweeted "Quite disheartening to the teams to hear some states complaining about our intentions. 50 of our employees are off work due to Covid, yet we continue to work under pandemic lockdowns 24x7 for U."

Covaxin dispatched 10/5/21.18 states have been covered thou in smaller shipments. Quite disheartening to the teams to hear Some states complaining about our intentions. 50 of our employees are off work due to covid, yet we continue to work under pandemic lockdowns 24x7 for U pic.twitter.com/FmQl4vtqXC — suchitra ella (@SuchitraElla) May 11, 2021

Reacting to her tweet, one user wrote, "How come your 50 employees down with Covid? We're they not vaccinated? Also, why not hire more people on a temporary basis?"

Ella's tweet got 9,373 likes and was retweeted by 2,564 people by 10.30 AM on May 13). "Hi just wanted to say Thank you. Both my grandparents are over 75 & took their first jab 5 weeks back, both tested COVID positive 2 weeks back. Low fever was their only symptoms, tested negative today, on the road to recovery with no major issues," tweeted another netizen.

"Thank you Bharat Biotech for your hard work and commitment to delivering vaccines to every corner of India," another Twitter user said. Another user said, "If you say that your employees are sick of covid, it speaks volumes about the efficacy of your vaccine."

Ella said as many as 18 states received Covaxin though in smaller shipments. The Hyderabad-based firm is supplying Covaxin to 18 states, including Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Jharkhand and Delhi.

The other states are Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Telangana, Tripura, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and West Bengal.

Meanwhile, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given its approval to Bharat Biotech to start conducting Phase two and three clinical trials of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin on children above 2 years old.

The national drug regulator said that it has accepted the recommendation of the SEC “after careful examination” and accorded permission to Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech.

On Wednesday, the Hyderabad-based drugmaker said that it has got the necessary approval from an expert panel for conducting phase 2/3 trials on those aged between 2 to 18 years.