Hitting out at social media posts that claimed that Bharat Biotech's Covaxin contains calf serum, Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, 16 June, said that 'facts have been twisted and misrepresented'.
The ministry said that newborn calf serum is used only for the preparation and growth of vero cells –– a practice that has been in place for decades in Polio, Rabies, and Influenza vaccines.
In a similar statement, Bharat Biotech said:
The company added that the usage of new born calf serum was transparently documented in the following publications since the last nine months.
"The vero cells are completely destroyed in the process of viral growth. Thereafter this grown virus is also killed (inactivated) and purified. This killed virus is then used to make the final vaccine, and in the final vaccine formulation no calf serum is used. Hence, the final vaccine (COVAXIN) does not contain newborn calf serum at all and the calf serum is not an ingredient of the final vaccine product," the ministry added.
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