Plea before Supreme Court seeks study of side effects of COVISHIELD vaccine

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking directions to study the possible side effects of Astrazeneca's COVISHIELD vaccine, one of two vaccines which was administered in India against COVID-19..The plea was filed after Astrazeneca admitted before a court in the United Kingdom that COVISHIELD has the potential to cause a rare side effect associated with blood clotting. .The plea by advocate Vishal Tiwari 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..The petitioner has prayed than a medical expert panel be constituted by the Supreme Court under the supervision of a retired apex court judge and comprising of medical experts from All India Institute of Medical Science to examine the side effects of COVISHEILD and its risk factors..The government is required to take immediate steps for the sake of the safety and health of Indian citizens, it was submitted."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 India Citizens," the plea said.Tiwari has urged the court to order the establishment of a Vaccine Damage Payment System to compensate citizens who are severely disabled or pass away as a result of a COVID vaccine..In August 2022, the Kerala High Court had called for urgent action from the Central Government and the National Disaster Management Authority to formulate guidelines for disbursing compensation to the families of persons who died due to reactions to the Covid-19 vaccine.In November 2022, when the top court was seized of a case dealing with mandatory vaccination and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, the Union government had told the Supreme Court that it cannot be held liable to pay compensation for deaths caused by adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines.The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) said the same in response to a petition by the parents of two young women who had died allegedly due to the adverse effects of COVID-19 vaccine.The government then told the Supreme Court that vaccines manufactured by third parties had successfully undergone regulatory review, and holding the State directly liable to provide compensation may not be “legally sustainable”.“The vaccines in use under the vaccination program are manufactured by third parties and have successfully undergone thorough regulatory review in India as well as other nations, being recognised globally as safe and effective,” it said.