Calf serum in Covaxin? Govt and Bharat Biotech clarify

The government of India and drug maker Bharat Biotech on Wednesday issued clarifications on reports claiming that serum from newborn calves was being used in the company's Covid vaccine Covaxin.

The government said that facts had been 'twisted and misrepresented' revealing that newborn calf serum was only used for preparation and growth of Vero cells for Covaxin. IT added that it is a standard practice being used by several other vaccines for Polio, Rabies, and Influenza for decades.

Bharat Biotech also clarified that newborn calf serum is used in manufacturing of viral vaccines. It's used for cells' growth, but neither used in growth of SARS CoV2 virus nor in final formulation. Covaxin is highly purified to contain only inactivated virus components by removing other impurities, the company said in a statement.