Application in SC seeking medical expert panel to examine Covishield vaccine side effects

The plea has been moved by advocate Vishal Tiwari, who also urged the court to issue directions to the Centre to establish a vaccine damage payment system for the citizens who became severely disabled as a result of a vaccination drive during COVID 19.

In the plea, advocate Vishal Tiwari sought direction to constitute a medical expert panel comprising medical experts from the All India Institute of Medical Science, Delhi headed by its director and supervised by the retired justice of the Supreme Court of India, to examine the Covishield vaccine side effects and its risk factors.

The application also sought to issue directions to Centre to compensate the people who are severely disabled or died because of the side effects of Corona vaccine administered to them during COVID 19.

In the application, advocate Vishal Tiwari mentioned the recent disclosure that the Covishield vaccine had caused and may cause side effects in rare cases, as its developer and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has said that its AZD1222 vaccine against COVID-19, which was made under licence in India as Covidshield, could cause low platelet counts and formation of blood clots in "very rare" cases. 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 licenced 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, advocate Vishal Tiwari said.

Advocate Tiwari, in the application, said that after COVID-19, there has been an increase in the cases of death due to heart attacks and sudden collapse of persons.

"There have been a number of cases of heart attacks, even in youngsters. Now, after the document filed in UK court by the developer of Covishield, we are compelled to think upon the risk and hazardous consequences of the Covishield vaccine, which has been administered to citizens in large numbers (sic)," the application read.

"The government is required to take immediate steps for the sake of the safety and health of Indian Citizens. The issue has to be looked upon by the Union Government on priority so that in future no risk may occur regarding the health and life of Indian Citizens," the application read.

In some countries, like UK there is Vaccine damage payment system for people who gets severely disabled due to vaccination, the application said. (ANI)