My thesis is that people have the right to use a medicine that is effective. Covaxin is such a medicine. As to the particulars as to why I or others would prefer one over the other, it doesn't matter. US medical policy should allow Americans to use a medicine created by an American Governmental Agency, the NIH, if we so choose. So far, the US government is mandating brand affiliation. This is ethically wrong.
> My thesis is that people have the right to use a medicine that is effective.
Yeah, I can agree with this.
Was covaxin deemed effective by the US? Not all countries agreed on it.
By the way, the COVID vaccines are a more complex issue because they are all currently rationed. If their situation change, I'm sure your choice will get more diverse.
Other than an adjuvant developed by NIH to increase the efficacy of Covaxin I do not see why you claim Covaxin itself was developed by NIH. AFAIK it was developed by Indian agencies.
Other than that, I agree with this comment.
But it is not a new problem. It is a very old problem, since way way before the pandemic. There is no pandemic related evil here. FDA restricts the import of foreign cheaper drugs for various reasons including patents.
