Doctors call for reevaluation of Covid vaccines after Covishield safety concerns, demand full disclosure of risks

Following the British pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca's admission in a UK court that its Covid vaccine can cause blood clots in rare cases, a group of concerned doctors from the Awaken India Movement (AIM) has highlighted safety issues with the Covishield vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India. 

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the medics called on the Indian government to reevaluate the science behind all Covid-19 vaccines and to ensure rigorous monitoring and surveillance of vaccine-related adverse events, newswire PTI reported.

Tarun Kothari, a radiologist and activist, criticized the government's approach at the presser, and said, "The government has wholly ignored the rising number of cases of tragic deaths post-Covid vaccination all the while and continues to promote Covid vaccines as 'safe and effective', without scientific investigation and invoking epidemiology," he said, as quoted by PTI.

The doctors expressed concerns that the public was largely uninformed about the administration of Covid-19 vaccines without complete phase-3 trial data, which would detail potential short and long-term side effects, or the possibility of fatalities. 

Sujata Mittal, a gynaecologist and oncologist, emphasized the low awareness of vaccine injuries in India and noted that many women reported menstrual irregularities as a vaccine side effect, a fact only confirmed by studies much later.

Kothari revealed that AIM has been documenting and reporting Covid-19 vaccine-related deaths since the vaccine rollout began in 2021, but the government has yet to respond to their appeals for a thorough investigation into these deaths and other severe adverse effects, the PTI report added.

The group also called for the establishment of fast-track and specialized vaccine courts to expedite justice for those harmed by vaccines. Mittal advocated for enhanced surveillance and monitoring systems to detect vaccine adverse events swiftly, along with the development and widespread dissemination of early treatment protocols to save lives.

Meanwhile, in response to safety concerns, AstraZeneca has started a global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, citing a surplus of more updated vaccines available since the pandemic's peak. 

The Serum Institute of India also announced it halted the production and supply of additional Covishield doses as of December 2021, stating that all rare side effects, including TTS, had been disclosed in the vaccine's packaging insert the same year, the report further added.

(With Inputs from PTI)