Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah draws flak for remarks linking Covid jab with heart attacks
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Bengaluru: Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah's comments suggesting Covid-19 vaccination may have caused the recent heart-attack related deaths in the state's Hassan district has triggered a wave of rebuttals from senior doctors, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and the BJP.The All India Institute of Medical Sciences dismissed any connection between the two. A study on the people who succumbed to sudden cardiac arrests did not reveal any link to the Covid vaccination, said Karan Madan, associate professor at the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine at AIIMS-Delhi. The Covid vaccines, he told the media in Delhi, had been effective and helped save lives.Pulmonologist and AIIMS-Delhi's former director Randeep Guleria said studies conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research and AIIMS into the deaths of young people have shown they were not related to Covid vaccines. These vaccines do have some side effects, like all vaccines and drugs, he said while dismissing any connection between Covid vaccination and heart attacks.Siddaramaiah's remarks and his government asking an expert committee to see if the Covid vaccines could have had any adverse effect has evoked sharp reactions from rival politicians as well.BJP's Karnataka unit took pot-shots at Siddaramaiah, asking him to stop spreading panic since he has "not mastered cardiology". BJP state president BY Vijayendra dismissed the CM's claim as "irresponsible" and said crores of people, both in India and overseas, have received these vaccines. The government must investigate deaths in Hassan instead of blaming the Covid vaccine, he said.Shaw, who is also the executive chairperson of the Bengaluru-based biopharmaceutical company, said in a post on X that the Covid-19 vaccines developed in India were approved under the Emergency Use Authorisation framework, following rigorous protocols aligned with global standards for safety and efficacy."To suggest that these vaccines were 'hastily' approved is factually incorrect and contributes to public misinformation. These vaccines have saved millions of lives and, like all vaccines, may cause side effects in a very small number of individuals. It is important to acknowledge the science and data-driven processes behind their development, rather than engage in retrospective blame."While commenting on the heart-attack related deaths in Hassan district, Siddaramaiah on Tuesday expressed doubts over the adverse effect of the vaccines. He blamed the BJP for what he posed on X "the hasty approval and distribution of the Covid vaccine to the public".
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