Over eight Indian families affected by Covishield likely to approach SC

As AstraZeneca faces a class action suit in the United Kingdom involving the risk of blood clots and low platelet count possibly linked to its Covid-19 vaccine, more families in India are looking to take the legal recourse, said a parent who had lost his 20-year old daughter allegedly after taking Covishield.

At least eight affected families are in discussion to approach the Supreme Court, as the vaccines were administered despite the companies being aware of the side effects in early 2021, G. Venugopalan, the father of 20-year-old Karunya, told businessline.

In fact, he had gone to court in October 2021 seeking answers from the health authorities on “what happened to our children”, calling for doctors to be educated on the side effects and seeking compensation.

But in the light of recent reports from the UK – that AZ said in court, its vaccine could “in very rare cases, cause TTS” – families in India who have been affected by the vaccine are going to seek action against the company and authorities involved in the mass vaccination, he said.

Response awaited
Serum Institute of India makes the AZ vaccine in India, and a response is awaited from it on the development. AZ had in a recent response on the UK development said, that “regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects.”

Venugopalan pointed out that several European countries, for example, had restricted the use of this vaccine in sections of their population.

In a separate development, advocate Vishal Tiwari has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the SC seeking a vaccine-damage payment system for those severely disabled due to the vaccination. He has also sought compensation for those who had been severely disabled or died because of the side effects of the Covid-19 vaccine.

He urged the apex court to set up a medical expert panel comprising medical experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS- Delhi), headed by its director and supervised by a retired Justice of the SC to examine Covishield and its side effects and risk factors. Several families are reaching out, on what they believe are adverse events linked to the vaccine, he told this correspondent. The Hindu BusinessLine