A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking an examination of AstraZeneca’s COVISHIELD vaccine, its side effects and risk factors by a panel of medical experts. The plea seeks the study of side effects of the vaccine by an expert panel appointed by the Supreme Court.
The plea seeks directions to constitute in the interest of health safety an Medical Expert Panel comprising of medical experts from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), Delhi headed by its director and supervised by a retired Supreme Court judge to examine the COVISHEILD Vaccine side sffects and its risk factors.
It also seeks directions to the Centre to establish a Vaccine Damage Payment System for the Citizens who got severely disabled as a result of a vaccination Drive during Covid-19.
It further asks for Centre to compensate people who are severely disabled or died because of the side effects of Corona vaccine
administered to them during Covid-19.
The petitioner seeks directions to the government and states that after Covid-19 there have been increase in the cases of death due to heart attack and sudden collapse of persons.
"There have been number of cases of heart attack even in youngsters. Now after the document filed in UK court by the developer of COVISHEILD we are compelled to think upon the risk and hazardous consequences of COVISHEILD vaccine which have been administered to the citizens at a large number," the plea read.
The petition comes after AstraZeneca’s admission in U.K. court that its vaccine has the potential to cause a rare side effect associated with blood clotting.
Earlier this week, AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine, developed by researchers from the Oxford University, can cause a rare side effect of blood clotting and low platelet count after immunisation.
Reportedly, the company admitted in court that a side effect called 'Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome(TTS)' could be caused by the vaccine in court while facing a lawsuit alleging severe harm and deaths caused by the vaccine.
In India, AstraZeneca's Covishield was manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute has been administered to Indians through over 175 crore doses.
"The Present Application for Direction is filed in connection with COVISHIED Vaccine which was Administered to the Indian citizens
during CORONA to prevent and protect from COVID virus. That recently it is revealed that COVISHELD Vaccine had caused and may cause Side effects in rare cases. Pharmaceutical company and developer of COVISHEILD VACCINE AstraZeneca has said that its
AZD1222 vaccine against Covid-19, which was made under licence in India as Covishield, could cause low platelet counts and formation
of blood clots in “very rare” cases.
The plea further stated that AstraZeneca has accepted a link between the vaccine and Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a medical condition characterised by abnormally low levels of platelets and the formation of blood clots. AstraZeneca’s vaccine formula was licensed to Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) during the coronavirus pandemic for the manufacture of Covishield.
The petition filed by Advocate Vishal Tiwari read, the government is required to take immediate steps for the sake of the safety and health of Indian Citizens.