Its commitment was patient safety...
On Monday, 06 May 2024, SC said it would hear a petition on a side-effect related to the Covid vaccine developed jointly by British pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and sold as Covishield.
A date for the hearing has not been set but the Chief Justice DY Chandrachud has considered the issue.
It included demands for an expert panel to investigate the side effects and for the government to provide compensation for families of those who may have died after taking the drug. An early hearing of the petition has been ruled out.
Specifically, the petitioner has demanded the expert panel probe both the side-effect and other potential risks, and that this investigation be monitored by a retired Supreme Court judge.
The petition claims instances where those who took the vaccine also became disabled, and wants directions to the government to provide compensation for them too.
Last month AstraZeneca said its vaccine could, in rare cases, cause TTS, or thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, a condition that leads to blood clots and low platelet count.
The company is facing class-action lawsuits in the UK that were triggered by a complaint from Jamie Scott, who claims he suffered a permanent brain injury after a blood clot that formed after he was injected with the vaccine in April 2021.
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