Covishield side effects: Doctors' group urges govt to review all Covid vaccines
New Delhi (PTI): In the wake of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca admitting in a UK court that its Covid vaccine can cause blood clots in rare cases, a group of doctors on Thursday expressed deep concern over the safety of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
At a press conference, the doctors, under the banner of the Awaken India Movement (AIM), urged the government to review the science behind all Covid vaccines and audit their commercialisation as well as implementation of active surveillance and monitoring mechanism to ensure vaccine adverse events are identified as early as possible.
"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," Dr Tarun Kothari, a radiologist and an activist, said at the press conference.
The world is learning about a side effect of the Covid vaccine called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), he said.
When the COVID-19 vaccines were being administered, not many people were aware that it was being done without the completion of phase-3 trials. Administration of COVID-19 vaccines was started without the manufacturers having complete information and data on the possible short-term or long-term side effects, or fatalities, said Dr Sujata Mittal, a gynaecologist and oncologist.
There is an already low awareness around vaccine injuries, especially in India, she said.
Thousands of women reported abnormalities in their menstrual cycles, which was confirmed much later as a side effect of the vaccine in a study published in September 2022, she added.
"The Awaken India Movement (AIM) has been collecting details of Covid Vaccine deaths covered by media/social media in India and sharing them with various high authorities of the country since 2021, when the vaccination began. The government has failed to respond to our repeated requests to investigate deaths and debilitation from adverse effects of vaccination," Dr Kothari said.
The AIM urged the government of India to compensate all the victims of Covid vaccines, including their family members, through a mechanism that involves vaccine manufacturers as well.
"We also demand establishing fast track courts and vaccine courts to provide swift justice to the vaccine injured and their families," Dr Mittal said.
Besides, active surveillance and monitoring mechanisms should be implemented to ensure vaccine adverse events are identified as early as possible and early treatment protocols must be created and widely publicised so that lives can be saved, she stated.
"Review science behind all Covid vaccines and audit their commercialisation," Dr Kothari said.
The United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca has started global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was provided in India as 'Covishield' in partnership with the Serum Institute of India, days after it admitted to rare side effects of blood clotting and lowering of platelet counts.
The withdrawal has been initiated due to a surplus of available updated vaccines since the pandemic, the company said in a statement.
In India, the company's partner Serum Institute of India said it has stopped the manufacturing and supply of additional doses of Covishield since December 2021 while reiterating that it had disclosed all rare to very rare side effects, including TTS, in the packaging insert in 2021.
AstraZeneca had partnered with Oxford University to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, which was sold as Vaxzevria in Europe.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
