Union Minister Pralhad Joshi seeks Siddaramaiah's apology after experts ruled out Covid jab caused heart attacks

Union Consumer Affairs & Renewable Energy Minister Pralhad Joshi on Sunday urged chief minister Siddaramaiah to apologise to scientists and researchers for “insulting” them with his comments that Covid-19 vaccines may have caused heart attack deaths in Hassan district.

Pralhad’s demand came after an expert panel constituted by the state government into heart attack related deaths in Hassan district ruled out any link between the vaccination and heart attacks.

When the pandemic broke out in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi acted swiftly and released grants. Siddaramaiah too took the shots of the vaccine in India, not overseas, Joshi told the media in Hubballi.

The PM dealt with the pandemic far more effectively compared to other countries. But Siddaramaiah’s statement was offensive to our scientists and questioned the efficacy of Indian vaccines where there was a huge demand for India-made pharma products in the oversea market, he said.

Siddaramaiah’s comments suggesting Covid-19 vaccination may have caused the recent heart-attack related deaths had triggered a wave of rebuttals from senior doctors, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and the BJP.

The All-India Institute of Medical Sciences had 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, AIIMS experts said.