E29: Special Ep - Dr. Pavithra Venkatagopalan - All about COVID vaccines
It’s been about two weeks since India rolled out its Covid vaccination drive against the ongoing pandemic. While the current priority is to provide these vaccines to health professionals and other front line workers, many regular folk are either awaiting to take the shot or would like to delay it. And the questions over the administering of Covaxin vaccine (by Bharath Biotech) to the general public before completing it’s Phase III clinical trial has added to this confusion and anxiety. The other vaccine available is Covishield (by Serum Institute of India), which has completed all the three phases of clinical trials. In this special episode, I discuss with Dr. Pavithra Venkatagopalan, a virologist whose specialisation has been in the field of coronoviruses and has spent many years studying the virus. She is also the director of Care Health Diagnostic Lab. Dr. Pavithra outlines the differences between both the vaccines, the ongoing concerns over Covaxin and the doubts people often have before getting the shot. This interview was recorded on January 29th, 2021. The content in this episode is for informational purpose only. Please consult an authorised medical professional for any queries concerning the vaccines. You can reach Dr. Pavithra on Instagram @pavithravenkatagopalan You can check out Maharani Talks on Instagram @maharanitalks