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Man seeks Rs 5 crore in damages after taking part in Oxford vaccine trial, DGCI probes claim

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 11/30/2020 11:35:40 AM

New Delhi, Nov 29 AChennai-based volunteer is demanding that testing, manufacturing and distribution of experimental coronavirus vaccine 'Covishield' be halted immediately. The vaccine is being developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca in collaboration with the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII). In addition to demanding that manufacturing and distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine is stopped, the 40- year-old business consultant has also sought Rs 5 crore as compensation citing neurological and psychological issues as a result of taking the dose. The volunteer was administered a shot of Covishield at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) in Chennai on October 1. The Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) and the institutional ethics committee at the implementation site are in the process of verifying whether the problems being faced by the volunteer were a consequence of having taken a shot of the experimental vaccine. At the volunteer's request, a law firm sent notices to the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the DGCI and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation on November 21. Legal notices were also sent to the CEO of Astra Zeneca UK, Professor Andrew Pollard, Chief Investigator, Oxford Vaccine Trial and Vice- Chancellor of Sri Ramachandra Higher Education and Research. "He further states that he is still far from being all right and has to be under medical care for a long time to come. Therefore, for all the trauma he is undergoing and with an uncertain future in his health, he should be given a financial compensation of Rs 5 crores within two weeks from the receipt of this notice," the notice read. This development comes less than 24 hours after SII CEO Adar Poonawalla told media outlets that the company will approach Indian regulators for emergency use authorisation of Covishield within the next two weeks. Earlier this week, AstraZeneca's CEO announced that the pharma giant will initiate an additional global clinical trial to further assess the relationship between dosage and efficacy. Responding to the volunteer’s claims, SII said in a statement, “The allegations in the notice are malicious and misconceived. While the Serum Institute of India is sympathetic to the volunteer’s medical condition, there is absolutely no correlation between the vaccine trial and the medical condition of the volunteer. The volunteer is falsely laying the blame for his medical problems on the COVID vaccine trial.”