Parents to sue Serum Institute over daughter’s death, allegedly due to Covishield

Days after vaccine manufacturer AstraZeneca admitted that its Covid-19 vaccine can cause a rare side-effect TTS (Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome), parents of a woman, who was administered Covishield, the vaccine’s Indian variant, have decided to move court against Serum Institute of India (SII), the Pune-based firm that developed and manufactured Covishield in the country.

The victim, Karunya, died in July 2021 after taking the shot, India Today reported. The national committee set up by the Union government, however, concluded that the evidence to link her demise with the vaccine was “insufficient.”

In light of the latest revelations, Venugopalan Govindan, the victim’s father, will now filed a writ petition seeking compensation, and the appointment of an independent medical board to inquire into his daughter’s death.

The admission by AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish firm, comes “too late” and in the aftermath of “so many lives lost,” Govindan said.

“Both AstraZeneca and Serum Institute should have stopped the vaccine’s manufacture and supply when 15 European countries either suspended or age-limited these due to deaths from blood clots that happened in March 2021, within a couple of months of the rollout of the vaccine itself,” he told The Economic Times.

Govindan also vowed to file more cases if “sufficient remedies” were not obtained from the present case.

“For the sake of justice, we will file fresh cases against the perpetrators because of whom the deaths of our children ensued,” he stated.

AstraZeneca’s side-effect admission came in response to a lawsuit that the company is facing in the UK. The lawsuit was initiated by Jamie Scott, who suffered a “permanent brain injury” after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.