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The family of a 34-year-old doctor who died of a rare side-effect of the Covishield vaccine could sue the union government and the Serum Institute of India to claim compensation and ensure appropriate investigation of the case. The doctor, Sneha Lunawat, died on March 1 after developing vaccine-induced blood clots — thrombotic thrombocytopenia — following the shot of Covishied in January.

The delay:

• The union health ministry publicly acknowledged the death as a due to the vaccine side effect only on October 2, after the family approached the World Health Organisation (WHO), which was looking into the case.
• The expert committee that looks into vaccine side effects, the National Adverse Events Following Immunisation (AEFI), had assessed the reports and confirmed "causal association to vaccination” on September 25.
• The expert panel investigating serious adverse effects had earlier found rare but definitive risk of blood clots following the administration of Covishield vaccines.

Note:

• Such rare cases of blood clots were also reported in Europe and elsewhere. According to the European Medicines Agency, the most serious side effects of unusual blood clots with low blood platelets are estimated to occur in 1 in 100,000 people vaccinated with the AstraZeneca shot, which is the same as Covishield.
• At that rate, the risk of severe disease or dying from Covid-19 is higher, which is to say the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risk. Some nations, however, are providing an alternative vaccine to the younger population, who are at a lesser risk from Covid-19.

They say:

• “Almost after seven months, the government has released the assessment report. We got to know about it on our own as we used to check the website every day," Samruddhi Lunawat, Sneha's younger sister, told the Economic Times.
• Experts say the government should do more. Malini Aisola, co-convenor at All India Drugs Action Network (AIDAN), said the government should inform people of risks through adequate promotion of advisories and provide treatment or compensation in such cases. “The cases we have come across are because the families were able to approach a tertiary care institution in a big city,” she said. “One can imagine the fate of persons who cannot access such care.”