Tao Lina, a Chinese doctor has called the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine the 'most unsafe in the world' and claimed it has 73 side effects.
Dr Tao Lina, a vaccine expert from Shanghai, took to his social media account to sound an alarm about the Sinopharm vaccine but soon went on to retract the charges.
Lina announced the shortcomings of the jab developed by Beijing's state-run drugmaker Sinopharm on social media, Daily Mail reported. But the controversial post has since disappeared from Weibo, the Twitter-like platform popular in China.
Pain around injection area, headache, high BP: Side effects claimed by Dr Tao
However, as soon as his statement went viral, the vaccine expert apologised to the nation and his fellow countrymen for his "imprudent" comments.
The now-deleted comments on the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine had listed side effects of "pain around the injection area, headache, high blood pressure, the loss of vision and taste, and urinary incontinence".
Tao Lina has refuted his own allegations against the Sinopharm vaccine
Lina has "clarified that Chinese inactivated vaccines are safe" and said, "VOA has twisted his words to mean the opposite in their news article".
As per Global Times reports, Tao had posted sarcastic comments on the Sinopharm vaccine meant as a disclaimer for hostile parties but was wrongly interpreted by VOA on its site. While Tao Lina posted his comments on Weibo, it is no longer available on the social media site.
The Chinese state-run media outlet quoted Tao Lina as saying, "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.
In another post on Weibo on Thursday, Tao Lina has refuted his own allegations against the Sinopharm vaccine. The Chinese government had granted conditional approval to the Sinopharm vaccine, which has shown over 79% efficacy.
