Karunya, 20, and Rithaika, 18, died in 2021. (File)
The parents of a young woman who died allegedly after being given Covishield are planning to sue the world's largest vaccine maker as well as the British pharma giant that had developed it during the Covid pandemic. This comes after AstraZeneca admitted in court documents in the UK that their vaccine can cause rare side effects that can lead to blood clots and low platelet count.
The AstraZeneca vaccine was manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under the name 'Covishield' and was widely administered here.
SII is yet to comment on this matter.
Venugopalan Govindan, who lost his 20-year-old daughter Karunya in 2021, said the admission was "too late" and came after "so many lives have been lost".
In an online post, he said the Serum Institute should have stopped the vaccine supply after the 15 European countries had restricted its usage over deaths from blood clots. He said the grieving parents are fighting for justice in various courts, but are not getting a hearing.
"If sufficient remedies aren't obtained, for the sake of justice and to prevent recurrence of this atrocity that was perpetrated in the name of public health, we will file fresh cases against any and all of those perpetrators because of whose actions the deaths of our children ensued. Eight of the victims' families have connected and I am echoing the common sentiments of all of us," he said.
"Serum Institute of India and Adar Poonawalla will have to answer for their sins. For the lives lost," Mr Govindan wrote in an online post, also accusing government authorities for approving the rollout of the vaccine.
Rachana Gangu, who lost her daughter Rithaika (18) in 2021, and Mr Govindan had earlier filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court seeking the appointment of a medical board to probe the deaths of their daughters and prepare a protocol for the early detection of the impact of vaccinations, besides compensation.
AstraZeneca is already facing a class action lawsuit in the UK over claims in at least 51 cases that its vaccine caused deaths and severe injuries in several cases. It had recently admitted that its vaccine can cause "in very rare cases, cause TTS". TTS stands for Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome, which causes blood clots and a low blood platelet count in humans.
The UK government, which has secured AstraZeneca from legal action, is yet to intervene in the matter.