A message is going viral on social media with a claim that Centre rejected proposals for emergency use authorization of COVID-19 vaccines from Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech today, citing ‘lack of safety’ as the reason for the rejection.
“BREAKING : vaccine proposals from Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech rejected today for “lack of safety” and inadequate data on efficacy,” the post claimed.
The posts were originally shared by an Indian journalist on Twitter (The tweet has since been deleted). The screenshots of the same tweet were then shared by multiple users on Social media.
Here’s the link to the above post.
More posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
The same was also reported on the website of NDTV and has now been removed.
The same was also reported by other media houses like CNBC-TV18.
NewsMobile fact-checked the post and found it to be misleading.
Soon after the news started making rounds, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a rebuttal and called it ‘Fake news’.
Journalist Suparna Singh, who has been the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NDTV and a part of NDTV’s corporate leadership team, deleted her original tweet and provided clarification.
“IMPORTANT clarifications: not approved for now, and this was finding of experts but final authority lies with DGCI,” she tweeted.
IMPORTANT clarifications: not approved for now, and this was finding of experts but final authority lies with DGCI https://t.co/IsYR6a5Vzb
— Suparna Singh (@Suparna_Singh) December 9, 2020
NDTV also issued a clarification regarding the vaccine after their gaffe.
“Important updates on Vaccine News:
1. Applications of Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech not approved today by expert committee 2. “Drug Controller of India to make final call,” they tweeted.
Important updates on Vaccine News:
1. Applications of Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech not approved today by expert committee
2. Drug Controller of India to make final call
— NDTV (@ndtv) December 9, 2020
Replying to their earlier Tweet, CNBC-TV18 also provided a clarification stating that ‘EUA [Emergency use authorization] has not been considered at present due to inadequate data. Both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute to come back again to SEC with more data, trials information & documents’.
#CovidVaccine | Sources tell CNBC-TV18 that EUA has not been considered at present due to inadequate data
Both Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute to come back again to SEC with more data, trials information & documents#BREAKING pic.twitter.com/ZiTNh1x1mW
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) December 9, 2020
Moreover, News 18 updated the same article. However, the link still had the old headline.
Serum Institute of India on December 6, 2020, applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine in the country while Bharat Biotech also applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for emergency use approval for its vaccine Covaxin.
This proves that the posts in circulations are misleading.
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