Just days ago, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah penned a scathing social media attack about the state government ordering a study to investigate any potential link between Covid-19 vaccines and the surge in sudden deaths claiming young lives in Karnataka.
Since then, a war of words erupted between him and Biocon Ltd Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Responding to the CM’s initial tweet, the Biocon chief said that the Covid-19 vaccines developed in India were approved only because they followed rigorous protocols at par with global standards for safety and efficacy. She shot back against Siddaramaiah’s claim of vaccines possibly being “hastily” approved, slamming it as “factually incorrect” and something that “contributes to public misinformation.”
In her early Thursday morning social media post, she affirmed that the vaccines had saved countless lives. Addressing their side effects affecting a “small number of individuals,” she said, “It is important to acknowledge the science and data-driven processes behind their development, rather than engage in retrospective blame.”
In the past month alone, in just one district of Hassan, more than twenty people have died due to heart attacks. The government is taking this matter very seriously. To identify the exact cause of these series of deaths and to find solutions, a committee of experts has been…
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 1, 2025
Siddaramaiah vs Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw continues: Vaccines responsible for sudden deaths?
The Karnataka chief minister hit back at her, continuing the social media onslaught in a follow-up X post hours later. Confronting her response, he again directed attention towards how it was his duty as the state’s leading politician to address people’s concerns in light of many families losing their loved ones.
Calling it an “act of governance rooted in empathy,” Siddaramaiah again put the adverse side effects, even if rare, as his target. “Scientific caution is not anti-science,” he wrote. “Many peer-reviewed studies (such as Nature, Circulation, Journal of the American College of Cardiology) have discussed myocarditis and cardiac arrest risk, particularly among young adults post-vaccination. Publicly funded stakeholders must acknowledge both the benefits and the potential risks without fear or favour.”
Going back to his own comments about the potential hasty approval of vaccines, he added, “it reflects the unprecedented speed of emergency rollouts globally without complete long-term data, acknowledged even by WHO and global regulatory agencies, who termed it a ‘calculated risk’ during a pandemic. Haste is not a sin when saving lives, but acknowledging potential unintended consequences is wisdom.”
Directly quoting Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, he maintained “Seeking answers is not retrospective blame.” The Karnataka CM doubled down on how it fell on the government and other stakeholders to find out the truth with human life as the topmost priority, along with providing citizens with transparency and care.
As Chief Minister, I have a duty to respond to the genuine concerns of people who have lost loved ones unexpectedly. When parents lose their young children or families lose breadwinners without warning, seeking clarity is not misinformation; it is an act of governance rooted in… https://t.co/JjssvDhNeV
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 3, 2025
Union Health Ministry rules out Covid vaccine-death fears
Siddaramaiah’s latest post related to the Covid vaccines-death link debate came a day after the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) confirmed on Wednesday that there are no direct ties between these unprecedented deaths and the vaccines.
“The matter of sudden, unexplained deaths has been investigated through several agencies in the country. These studies have conclusively established that there is no direct link between Covid-19 vaccination and the reports of sudden deaths in the country. Sudden cardiac deaths can result from a wide range of factors, including genetics, lifestyle, pre-existing conditions, and post-Covid complications,” the Union health ministry said in a statement, citing studied conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).