The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd. (KMSCL), the procurement agency for drugs and equipment for all public healthcare institutions in the State, has claimed that the anti-rabies vaccine being distributed in hospitals are fully authorised.
This comes in the wake of media reports that the vaccines procured for hospitals had not passed the mandatory tests for approval because of a shortage. The general manager, KMSCL, said all the procedures were followed before buying the vaccines.
The same company was distributing them to States such as Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana, and Delhi. The central drugs laboratories at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh and at Kolkata in West Bengal and the National Institute of Biologicals, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, were the notified agencies for quality tests.
The official, however, added that a Union government circular issued on April 3, 2020 had said exemptions could be possible in emergency situations.
