Days after participating in vaccine trial, man dies in Bhopal
Bhopal: A 42-year-old volunteer from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh died nearly ten days after he participated in the clinical trial for Covaxin held at a private hospital, its vice-chancellor said on Saturday while a government official suspected poisoning but added that the exact cause of the death will be known after viscera test.
Dr. Rajesh Kapur, Vice-Chancellor, People's Medical College and Hospital where the trial was conducted, told PTI that Deepak Marawi had participated in the Covaxin trial held on December 12, 2020.
Madhya Pradesh Medico-Legal Institute Director Dr. Ashok Sharma said the doctor who had performed postmortem of the deceased suspects that he died of poisoning.
However, the exact cause of the death would be known from his viscera test, he added.
"After Marawi's death on December 21, we informed the Drug Controller General of India and Bharat Biotech, which is the producer and sponsor of the trial," Dr. Kapur said.
He said Marawi had volunteered for the trial and was examined.
"All protocols were followed and Marawi's consent was taken before allowing him to participate in the trial," he claimed.
Dr. Kapur, however, said he cannot confirm whether Marawi was administered the vaccine shot or was given a placebo.
"It (the vial containing the liquid for trial) comes covered and coded. During the trial, 50 percent people get the actual injection while the rest are given saline," he said.
Kapur said Marawi was kept under observation for 30 minutes after the trial as per guidelines before he was allowed to go.
"We monitored his health for 7 to 8 days," he claimed.
Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Dr Prabhuram Choudhary did not respond to phone calls.
Meanwhile, family members of Marawi, a tribal, said he was working as a laborer.
They claimed that Marawi and his colleague were administered the Covaxin injection on December 12 during the trial.
"When he returned home he felt uneasy and experienced some health problems. He complained of shoulder pain on December 17. Two days later, he spewed foam. He refused to see a doctor saying he would be alright in a day or two. When his condition deteriorated, he was being rushed to hospital but he died midway (on December 21)," they added.
Rachana Dhingra, a Bhopal-based social activist, claimed neither Marawi's consent was taken for participation in the clinical trial nor he was given any proof of his participation in the exercise.
However, the hospital has denied this charge.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had last week approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
