No consent, no follow-up, claim Bhopal gas tragedy victims in vax trial

By Ashish Srivastava New Delhi, Jan 10 : Ahead of the nationwide rollout of the immunisation programme against the Covid-19, alleged violations of protocol are coming to the fore in the clinical trials of one of the vaccines approved for inoculation in the country.
Trial participants in Bhopal, who, incidentally, are also victims of the 1984 gas tragedy, told IANS of “severe violations” of the model code of conduct pertaining to trials including absence of consent and no follow-up on their health after developing adverse reactions post the first dose by a particular clinical trial site.
They alleged that the People’s College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, a private hospital, which is one of the 26 sites conducting Phase 3 trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covid vaccine Covaxin, did not inform them that they were participating in trials.
Many of them, who have claimed to be illiterate, and belong to severely disadvantaged sections of the society, have said that they signed up after believing that they were getting vaccinated. They were also allured with a Rs 750 cash payment by the clinical site for enrolment.
Rashida Bee, President of the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationery Karmchari Sangh and a recipient of the Goldman Environmental Prize, said that at least 700 of the 1,700 people on who this vaccine, with unknown efficacy, is being tested, are people poisoned by Union Carbide.
Man Singh Parihar, 70, who works as a construction worker, had volunteered for the trial on December 21 after he was told that he would be given a Covid vaccine for free in addition to Rs 750.