Regulators are not taking any shortcuts on ensuring safety of COVID-19 vaccine, says NTF member N.K. Arora.
Dr N.K. Arora, executive director of the New Delhi-based INCLEN Trust and head of the operations research group of the ICMR’s National Task Force for COVID-19 says all safety related information will be shared with the public as it emerges with the use of COVID-19 vaccine.
This is for the first time the government is going to vaccinate adults. Does it require any special preparation?
Yes, it does. India has an existing vaccine safety surveillance mechanism called the AEFI (Adverse Events Following Immunisation) surveillance. It’s comprised of a national secretariat under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP), including doctors, data specialists and public health specialists. The vaccine safety surveillance network extends up to every district where a panel of doctors and health workers monitor events of concern after getting any vaccine, investigate and report to…
