NEW DELHI: Top doctors, industry experts and pharma promoters have joined the Union govt in denying any potential link between Covid-19 vaccination and sudden deaths in the country, days after Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah said that hasty approval and administration of Covid vaccines could be the reason behind such incidents.Dr Randeep Guleria, former director of AIIMS Delhi, said there is no evidence of a link between Covid-19 vaccination and sudden heart attacks.Siddaramaiah’s remarks came in the wake of a spate of sudden cardiac deaths in Karnataka’s Hassan district in recent weeks.Pharma promoters who compete fiercely in the market all rallied behind domestically manufactured vaccines, including those for Covid-19 and polio.Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said such claims are “factually incorrect” and “misleading”. “Covid-19 vaccines developed in India were approved under Emergency Use Authorisation framework following rigorous protocols aligned with global standards for safety and efficacy. To suggest that these vaccines were ‘hastily’ approved is factually incorrect and contributes to public misinformation,” Shaw said on social media.She added: “These vaccines have saved millions of lives and, like all vaccines, may cause side effects in a very small number of individuals. It is important to acknowledge the science and data-driven processes behind their development, rather than engage in retrospective blame”.Satish Reddy, chairman of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Dilip Shanghvi, promoter and CMD of Sun Pharma, Pankaj Patel, chairman and promoter of Zydus Lifesciences, and Torrent Pharma chairman Samir Mehta – industry leaders known for their media reticence – each took to social media platforms to endorse India-made vaccines.“They helped end polio and fight Covid. At a time when India is seen as a vaccine leader, let’s build trust in science, not doubt it. Public health must stay above politics,” Reddy said in a post on X.Patel said on X that there are “other multiple reasons, like age, environmental factors, genetics, lifestyle, etc, that could be the leading cause of heart attacks in people. Several scientific studies globally and in India have conclusively shown that the risk of heart attack or myocarditis is greater after SARS-CoV-2 infection. It has been proven beyond doubt that vaccination remains the most effective and preventive healthcare strategy to reduce deaths and disabilities”.Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance (IPA), without naming Siddaramaiah, said, “Misinformation and distortion of facts endanger public health and undermine the trust built on science and patient care globally”.