India: Parents to sue AstraZeneca over daughter’s alleged death due to Covishield vaccine

The parents of a young woman who allegedly died after taking AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, are planning to file a lawsuit against the British pharmaceutical giant. 

Earlier this week, AstraZeneca for the first time ever acknowledged that its COVID vaccine can lead to a rare side effect and can cause blood clots and low platelet count. The admission by the company was made in legal documents submitted to the United Kingdom High Court. 

About the potential lawsuit

Venugopalan Govindan, who lost his 20-year-old daughter Karunya in 2021, took to X and in a series of posts said that the admission by the UK-based company was “too late” and came after “so many lives have been lost”.

“The Govt knew that Covishield causes bloodclots and it can be fatal. Serum Institute, the manufacturers, knew it. In February 2021 itself. (SII knew it in February, and it was dutybound to inform GoI ),” said Govindan, in a post on Friday (May 3). 

Also Read | AstraZeneca admits in court that its Covid vaccine can ‘in very rare cases, cause TTS’

The father of the 20-year-old called on others whose loved ones “took (the) vaccine and died afterwards from its complications…We will do a class action suit and bring every single perpetrator to justice.” 

In a subsequent post, he wrote, “I am overwhelmed !” adding that many people shared their stories, adding that “My resolve to fight for justice is redoubled now.” 

British-Swedish company AstraZeneca, in conjunction with Oxford, developed its Covid vaccine that is sold under the brand name ‘Covishield’. 

The pharmaceutical company is facing class action suits over claims that its COVID-19 vaccine caused serious injury or death in dozens of cases.

Earlier this week, the pharmaceutical giant accepted that its COVID-19 vaccine “can, in very rare cases, cause TTS”. 

TTS stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, which can cause people to have blood clots and a low blood platelet count.

‘Safety first’

As the news about AstraZeneca’s admission sparked debate across the country, Bharat Biotech, the vaccine maker that developed Covaxin, boasted about its safety record.

“Covaxin was developed with a single-minded focus on safety first, followed by efficacy,” said Bharat Biotech, in a post on X. 

The Hyderabad-based biotechnology company said that their vaccine was also the only COVID-19 vaccine in the Indian government’s immunisation programme to have conducted efficacy trials in India. 

Also Read | AstraZeneca Covid vaccine: Court case, rare side effects, admission of guilt, and more. All you need to know

“Covaxin was evaluated in more than 27,000 subjects as part of its licensure process. It was licensed under restricted use in clinical trial mode, where detailed safety reporting was carried out for several hundred thousand subjects,” it said. 

The company also said that the safety of Covaxin was evaluated by the Ministry of Health, Government of India and the studies and follow-up activities demonstrated its “excellent safety record”. 

Bharat Biotech said there were no reports of blood clots, Thrombocytopenia, TTS, VITT pericarditis, myocarditis, etc.

“As seasoned innovators and product developers, the Bharat Biotech team was well aware that, while the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines may be short-lived, the impact on patient safety could last a lifetime. Hence, safety is the primary focus for all our vaccines," it added.

(With inputs from agencies)