The parents of a woman who allegedly died after taking Covishield have initiated legal proceedings against Serum Institute of India (SII) after British pharma giant AstraZeneca's admission in a court that its vaccine can cause rare side effects. Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, was produced by the Serum Institute of India and widely administered in the country.
Venugopalan Govindan's daughter Karunya died in July 2021 after taking the Covishield vaccine. However, the national committee set up by the government concluded there was insufficient evidence to conclude that her death was caused by the vaccine.
The development comes after AstraZeneca, which is facing a class-action lawsuit in the UK, admitted in court documents that its vaccine could cause a rare side effect of blood clotting coupled with low platelet count.
After AstraZeneca's admission, the plight of another family has also come to light.
The lawsuit in the UK was initiated by Jamie Scott, who suffered a permanent brain injury after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine in April 2021.
