India's leading clinical trial specialist Dr Subhrajyoti Bhowmick said that adequate caution needs to be taken before taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Speaking on the protocol for Covishield vaccination, he cautioned that the healthcare provider must be informed if the person has any allergic reactions (fever, bleeding problem or on a blood thinner, immunocompromised or on any medication affecting immunity, breastfeeding) to drugs, food, any vaccine or any ingredients of the Covishield vaccine.
"As the Covishield vaccine has not been evaluated for its efficacy and safety in pregnant women during clinical trials which have been held till date, it is suggested that pregnant women should share the information of their pregnancy prior to the vaccination process," says Bhowmick.
In the current scenario, such women might be excluded from the vaccination process considering the safety profile of Covishield in pregnancy is yet to be known, says Bhowmick, who is the clinical trial specialist with the Peerless Hospital, Kolkata.
His message comes at a time when the Centre has rolled out its plan for nationwide vaccination. While initially the frontline warriors would be vaccinated, at a later stage it would be rolled out to first immune suppressed patients and then common people.
Bhowmick says his message is not to create panic among the masses but to sensitise them.
"People must tell their health situations to doctors before being administered Covishield. So that there would be 100 per cent precaution," he says.
