Parents To Sue AstraZeneca Over Daughter's Covishield Vaccine-Linked Death

The family of a young woman who allegedly suffered side effects from the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine are planning to take legal action against the British pharma company that manufactured the vaccine, as well as its Indian partner, the Serum Institute of India (SII). This came after admission by AstraZeneca in UK court documents that its vaccine, marketed in India as Covishield, can, in rare instances, cause severe side effects including blood clots and low platelet counts.

The vaccine, developed during the Covid-19 pandemic, was produced in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's largest vaccine maker, and was one of the main vaccines administered across the country.

Venugopalan Govindan, who lost his 20-year-old daughter Karunya in 2021 said, the admission of these potential side effects came too late. In a post on social media platform X, Govindan stated that the Serum Institute should have ceased distribution of the vaccine when several European countries restricted its use due to similar health concerns.

“The manufacturer Serum Institute of India, the Government who advertised these vaccines throughout the nation at huge expense to exchequer as 'safe and effective' without sufficient data (and when data emerged about the adverse events from around the world, they chose not to stop the rollout or at least sensitise people and medical fraternity about it), the regulatory bodies that approved it and subsequently didn't intervene to stop it when data emerged about the dangers, are all culpable in the death of my daughter and countless others who have died after taking this so called vaccine,” said Govindan.

Previously, Govindan along with Rachana Gangu, who also lost her daughter Rithaika (18) in 2021, had filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court. Their plea sought the establishment of a medical board to investigate the deaths linked to the vaccine, develop a protocol for early detection of adverse effects from vaccinations, and secure compensation for affected families.

Meanwhile, AstraZeneca is currently facing a class action lawsuit in the UK, where it is being claimed that the vaccine caused deaths and severe injuries in several cases. The company admitted that its vaccine could cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), a condition leading to blood clots and low blood platelet count, in very rare cases.

The UK government, having indemnified AstraZeneca against legal actions related to the vaccine, has not yet commented on this. The Serum Institute of India has also not issued a statement regarding the impending legal actions or the allegations.