Covishield Vaccine Side Effects: Plea Filed in Supreme Court To Examine Adverse Effects of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 Vaccine

After reports of pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca admitting that its Covishield vaccine can cause rare side effects, the plea was filed by a lawyer in the Supreme Court seeking examination of side effects and risk factors by constituting a team of expert doctors from AIIMS as well as compensation of those who were severely disabled or died due to the vaccination drive.

Advocate Vishal Tiwari, in his plea to apex court, sought directions to constitute in the interest of health safety, a medical expert panel comprising of doctors from All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi.

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Tiwari request panel must be headed by its Director and supervised by the retired Justice of Supreme Court to examine the Covishield vaccine, its side effects as well as risk factors.

"I seek directions to the Union of India (UOI) to establish a vaccine damage payment system for the citizens who got severely disabled as a result of a vaccination Drive during COVID-19. The SC should pass directions to the UOI to compensate the people who are severely disabled or died because of the side effects of the vaccine administered to them during COVID-19," said Tiwari in his plea filed before the top court. 

In a recent case in the UK, Pharmaceutical company and developer of this vaccine AstraZeneca said that its AZD1222 vaccine against Coronavirus, which was made under licence in India as Covishield, could cause low platelet counts and the formation of blood clots in “very rare” cases. 

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"AstraZeneca has accepted a link between the vaccine and Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a medical condition characterized by abnormally low platelet levels 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. More than 175 crore doses of Covishield have been administered in India," the plea said.