1. AstraZeneca admits Covishield may cause rare blood clotting side effects.
2. Covishield’s rare side effect disclosed by AstraZeneca.
3. Court documents reveal AstraZeneca’s acknowledgment of Covishield’s rare side effect.
New Delhi, April 30: British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has acknowledged that its Covid vaccine, Covishield, can lead to a rare side effect, as reported by The Telegraph (UK).
The company disclosed that in rare instances, the vaccine can trigger a condition characterized by blood clots and low platelet count, according to court documents.
Covishield, a product of collaboration between AstraZeneca and Oxford University during the pandemic, was manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and extensively administered across the country.
AstraZeneca is currently embroiled in a class action lawsuit in the UK, where plaintiffs in 51 cases before the UK High Court are seeking damages amounting to 100 million pounds.
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The lawsuit alleges that the vaccine led to deaths and severe injuries in multiple instances.
The first complainant in the case, Jamie Scott, claimed that he received the vaccine in April 2021, resulting in a permanent brain injury due to a blood clot.
He stated that the injury has rendered him unable to work, and the hospital even conveyed to his wife on three occasions that he was unlikely to survive.
While AstraZeneca has refuted the allegations, it conceded in court documents in February that Covishield can cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in very rare cases. TTS manifests as blood clots and low platelet count in affected individuals.
The company stated in its legal defence to Scott’s claim that “it is admitted that the AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known… Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a matter for expert evidence.”
AstraZeneca’s acknowledgement in the legal proceedings may potentially result in compensation payouts to the victims and their families.
