Chinese doctor claims Sinopharm vaccine is 'most unsafe, with 73 side effects

A doctor in China has claimed that the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine is the 'most unsafe in the world'. The doctor claims that the vaccine has 73 side effects.

Dr Tao Lina, who is a vaccine expert from Shanghai, wrote this about the Sinopharm vaccine on his social media account but soon after retracted these claims.

Lina said on the Chinese social media platform Weibo that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinopharm, which is a Chinese state-run company, is extremely unsafe for use, according to Daily Mail.

Soon after his post went viral, the doctor apologised to the country and his fellow countrymen for his "imprudent" remarks.

His now-deleted post about the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine has listed out several side effects. These were: "pain around the injection area, headache, high blood pressure, the loss of vision and taste, and urinary incontinence".

Chinese state-run media outlet Global Times has stated that Lina has "clarified hat Chinese inactivated vaccines are safe". The media outlet said that Lina had posted sarcastic comments about the Sinopharm vaccine which were meant as a disclaimer for hostile parties. These sarcastic statements were wrongly interpreted by Voice of America (VOA) on its website.

"I have never said that inactivated vaccines lacked safety and efficacy. Instead, I frequently emphasised that inactivated vaccines produced by China are safe in multiple articles to dismiss public concerns over vaccinations," Lina told Global Times.

In another post on Thursday, Tao Lina discredited the allegations he himself had made against the Sinopharm vaccine. Earlier, the Chinese Government had given conditional approval to the Sinopharm vaccine. The Sinopharm vaccine reportedly has shown over 79% efficacy.

On New Year's Eve, Beijing's health authorities granted 'conditional' approval to Sinopharm's vaccine, which is reported to have an efficacy rate of 79.34 per cent.

The country is aiming to inoculate millions of people, mostly front-line workers and working-age population, before the upcoming Lunar New Year travel rush in mid-February.