Covishield Vaccine and AstraZeneca
India awoke to the news that the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca accepted having a link between the Covishield (AZD1222) vaccine and a medical condition known as Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia or TTS, characterised by an abnormally low platelet count and, in rare cases, blood clots.
The pharma company has admitted this in a legal document provided to the court in the UK while facing a lawsuit over health claims. The vaccine was developed in collaboration with Oxford University and was licensed to Serum Institute of India (SII), a Pune-based vaccine manufacturer. Although AstraZeneca previously denied the link even after several cases were lodged against them, they have finally admitted to the possibility of its occurrence in ‘very rare cases’.
What are Anticipated Health Issues?
The concern arises from the potential risk factors associated with low platelet count and blood clotting. Several symptoms, such as breathlessness, chest and limb pain, red spots or skin bruising, persistent headache, and numbness in body parts, have been associated with TTS. Further complications include severe breathing problems, stroke, and heart attack.
Latest Update
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court of India seeking intervention to analyse the vaccine’s risk factors and side effects. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, in his lawsuit, seeks compensation for those who have suffered severely from the vaccination drive.
Concluding Statements
The world has been a different place since the global pandemic Covid-19. With this lawsuit, many questions arise about this issue, which is surfacing only now. These rare side effects were documented during the vaccination drive; the vaccine’s benefits outweighed its potential side effects.
Frequently Asked Questions
Covishield is a viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. It is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) under license from AstraZeneca.
The risk is lower as only a few cases have been reported in the country over these years.
In a statement released by the pharma company, they say that their sympathy goes out to those who have lost loved ones or reported health problems. For them, the safety of the patients is prioritised, and they have stringent standards to ensure the safe usage of vaccines.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Advocate Vishal Tiwari referring to the documents of the UK court, seeking to form a health expert committee to examine this issue in India.
