SC issues notice to Govt over Vaccination Related Deaths Of Two Girls

Hetvi Patel, lawyer for Venugopalan Govindan, told ET, "The court agreed to hear the matter and issued notice to the Union of India today."

This came after Govindan and another parent, Hyderabad resident Rachana Gangu, who lost her daughter Rithaika after receiving the shot, filed a writ suit with the Supreme Court last year.

Venugopalan Govindan filed a writ petition in court requesting a writ, order, or direction for the appointment of an expert medical board, independent of the government, to inquire into and investigate the deaths of their daughters, and to share the report with them, as well as a writ, order, or direction to the said expert medical board to prepare a protocol for early detection and timely treatment of AEFI due to the Covid-19 vaccine.

Govindan claimed in a plea that his daughter Karunya passed away a month after receiving the vaccine. Additionally, he claimed that neither he nor his daughter were given early warning of the possibility of such a serious AEFI (Adverse events following immunization) and that their informed consent was not obtained.

An adverse event following immunization is any untoward medical occurrence which follows immunization and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with the usage of the vaccine. If not rapidly and effectively dealt with, can undermine confidence in a vaccine and ultimately have dramatic consequences for immunization coverage and disease incidence.

Another parent, Rachana Gangu from Hyderabad, claimed in the appeal that her daughter Rithaika had received the first Covishield shot in May, following which she began experiencing complications. Rithaika passed away shortly after receiving the shot. After extensive testing and significant difficulties for Rithaika, Rachana learned that her daughter had "Vaccine Induced Thrombotic Thrombocyopenia" (VITT). She claimed that the doctors were unable to connect her ailment to anything.

Vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) is a rare but devastating adverse event following adenoviral vector-based vaccinations for COVID-19, resulting in thrombosis, especially of the cerebral and splanchnic vasculature.

According to Rachana, despite bringing her complaint to the attention of the proper authorities, she never received a satisfactory response.

Rithaika's death was categorised by the AEFI committee in the A1 category, which stands for reaction to a vaccination product, according to the petition's copy. Nothing more, unfortunately, has been done in terms of compensation.

Due to the aforementioned, the parents have petitioned the court to grant a writ so they can receive the report of the autopsy and investigation in a timely manner.

The parents have also asked for significant compensation that they want to donate to charities that deal with social concerns.