How did vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech (BB) get an overnight approval for its Covid-19 vaccine (pictured) without completing the third phase of the trials? The Indian Express columnist Coomi Kapoor narrates the story in her January 17, 2021 column "Inside track,” titled "PMO for patch-up.”
"The rivalry between (Dr Cyrus Poonawalla founded) Serum Institute of India and BB became open knowledge after the heads of both took veiled digs at each other publicly. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) immediately intervened, directing the two vaccine manufacturers to issue a joint letter that they were coordinating in the fight against the pandemic.”
Noting that "it is unclear who was responsible for influencing the expert committee on vaccine approval to grant immediate clearance to (BB’s) Covaxin on January 2,” Kapoor stated that "earlier, the minutes of the expert committee meeting reveal that BB was asked to first submit additional research data as the company had not completed its Phase III trials… Within a day, the panel re-convened to okay the vaccine. While BB has the Prime Minister’s blessings, the move to give its vaccine instantaneous clearance seems to have stemmed partly because of politician Subramanian Swamy’s embarrassing tweet that an Indian product was being accorded step-motherly treatment and ran counter to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (right wing Hindu nationalist organization) and (PM Narendra) Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India) campaign.”