Couple to sue AstraZeneca for daughter's death post Covishield shot

The parents of a girl who died in 2021 allegedly after taking the Covishield vaccine have decided to sue AstraZeneca, the British-Swedish pharmaceutical multinational company that developed the vaccine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The couple said they took the decision after AstraZeneca recently admitted in court that in "very rare cases", its COVID-19 vaccine, which is known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, can cause a blood clot-related side effect and low platelet count.

The company said the causal link is unknown, according to court papers being quoted in the UK media.

In India, the AstraZeneca vaccine was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII).

‘AstraZeneca’s admission is too late’

Venugopalan Govindan, the father of Karunya who died at the age of 20 in 2021 after being administered the vaccine, said in a post on X, “This admission of AZ is too late and has come after so many lives have been lost.”

“As a responsible manufacturer, AstraZeneca and its Indian manufacturer Serum Institute should have stopped the manufacture and supply of these vaccines when 15 European countries either suspended or age limited these vaccines due to the deaths from blood clots that happened in 2021 March, within couple of months of the rollout of the vaccine itself,” Govindan continued in his post.

Parent blame SII, Centre, regulatory bodies

Govindan went on to blame SII, the government of India, and the regulatory bodies in India as being culpable for his daughter’s death and “countless others who have died after taking this so-called vaccine”.

He said the government advertised the vaccine throughout the nation at a huge expense to the exchequer as safe and effective without sufficient data, and when data did emerge from around the world about the adverse effects, it chose not to stop the rollout or at least sensitise the people and the medical fraternity about it.

‘Not getting a hearing for our cases’

“The grieving parents are fighting for justice in various courts and for reasons best known to our judicial system, we are not getting a hearing for our cases. The fundamental principles of bodily autonomy, full disclosure, and informed consent have all been violated with impunity. There has been failure to discharge their duties, either due to criminal intentions or due to negligence from the Manufacturer, the Government at policy-making side or expert bodies advising the Govt. We will pursue our current cases till the end,” Govindan further said in his long post on X.

Govindan said that if sufficient remedies weren’t obtained, they would file fresh cases against the perpetrators “for the sake of justice and to prevent recurrence of this atrocity that was perpetrated in the name of public health”.

The grieving father concluded by saying that 8 of the victims’ families had connected and he was echoing the common sentiments of all of them.

AstraZeneca is facing a class action lawsuit in the United Kingdom in more than 50 cases where the vaccine caused deaths or severe injuries.